Hostages Safe After California Bank Robbery

Police have announced that all hostages are safe and the suspect is in custody following a failed bank robbery in a community near Fresno, California.

Just before five pm on Wednesday, a man entered the bank, taking eight hostages during his bank robbery attempt. After several hours, the robber released several hostages. Early Thursday morning, three remaining female hostages attempted to escape the building, but the suspect caught one of the hostages and pulled her back into the Bank of America Branch, located in Exeter, California. The police were able to extract the last hostage during a delivery of requested cigarettes to the bank robber.

According to one of the hostages, who was freed late Wednesday, the robber wanted the hostages to leave him a getaway car. The suspect is a 47-year-old man from Visalia, California. According to several hostage reports, the man was not violent; he was calm and spoke about his life. He even allowed the hostages to call their family members.

According to reports, the man entered the bank with a suitcase and gave a note to one of the employees. He sat at a table while one teller stacked $100,000 into the suitcase.

This bank robbery was unsuccessful and the suspect is currently in custody. The success rate of bank robbery is quite low in the United States. According to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, nearly 60 percent of all bank robbery attempts fail, and result in the suspect's arrest.