A suspected bank robber led Walnut Creek and Concord police officers on a brief chase through those two cities Friday, officers terminating their pursuit out of concern for public safety when the suspect began driving the wrong way on Treat Boulevard from Walnut Creek into Concord.
Police confirmed that the chase followed an armed robbery at the Chase Bank branch at 1895 Ygnacio Valley Rd. at 3:06 p.m. In that incident a man described as a white male in his mid-50s with grey hair, mustache and a black cap entered the bank and displayed a handgun. He was last seen fleeing on foot through the parking lot of the Ygnacio Plaza Shopping Center.
Walnut Creek Police Lt. Joe Donleavy said the investigation into that crime is continuing, but that approximately 30 minutes later officers searching for the robbery suspect spotted a man answering his description at the Countrywood Shopping Center, 718 Bancroft Rd., as he was getting into a blue early 90s-era pickup truck, and fell in behind him.
Donleavy and witnesses at the scene said the driver of the truck jumped the divider and began driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of Treat Boulevard – causing pandemonium amongst rush hour commuters on the road at that time.
“On treat – we were headed westbound and almost collided with truck driving the wrong way,” wrote NEWS24/680 reader Edward Cano. “Looks like he hit a jeep behind us. Cops chasing. Traffic is a mess…”
Donleavy said Walnut Creek alerted police in Concord that the suspect was headed their way and terminated their pursuit due to the danger he posed to citizens. The suspect was not located and there were no immediate reports of injury associated with the chase.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact Detective Guy Ezard at 925.943.5878.
Darn, Walnut Creek has become dangerous lately! Somehow, with all the high-end facade being put on the town, a lot of scarry people are also now lurking in the shadows.
We’ve actually stop going there. To be honest , there seems to be an entirely different citizenry there now : alot of self-absorbed snobbish millennials that are kind of rude, and then a whole new group of ‘street people’ at the other end, that seem be sizing you up.
@Rob – (Cute screen name ;-} ) While we agree time has changed Walnut Creek from the sleepy little town we knew into something much different, we still think it’s pretty cool with some pretty cool people. Yes, we’re getting hit with stuff but we’re seeing that everywhere right now. Whether it is heightened by our coverage or a real spike remains to be seen and argued, but we’ll cover it as it happens. We just won’t be feeding those parking meters that seem to have sprouted up everywhere… we’re Old School that way!
Got your first flash on this at 3-51 pm. Thanks for the heads up!!!!
@Tracee – You are very welcome. Thanks for being a “Flasher!”
Sure has been crazy lately.
Waiting for the video in…….
Lucky no one was hurt.
I’m glad no one was hurt. I don’t understand the mindset of “I’m afraid to go to WC.” I’ve seen it here before, and its bizarre. Being overly cautious will hinder you – and so will not being cautious enough.
WC is not dangerous, but not everyone can handle the news without a negative psychological effect. It’s the reason a lot of people won’t read or watch the news.
I would just like to applaud Danielle for her comment here. I do agree and I believe she is right when she says many people do not seem to handle basic information properly – taking extreme positions when none is called for such as in this case. Yes – this was a bad thing and scary. It was delivered to us in straightforward and timely fashion by this news source. I feel people are not able to parse this information, preferring to check out entirely or going to sources that gives them the news they are most comfortable with. Not to make a fine point about that but IN MY OPINION that has taken a large portion of our country down a very bad road. We don’t live in Walnut Creek but we’re close and we still visit a lot and while we are ALWAYS careful we do not think this sort of thing is going to happen every time we go. I agree with Danielle – being overly cautious will hinder you. Well said. Agree.
Educate yourself. Pick a news agency you trust. Question things. The fake news is pretty easy to spot if you know a few things. Refuse to be manipulated!!
Good points made above. Thank you, all!
Now, regarding ‘fake news’….we all do need to watch out…. clearly on both sides. Every news program seems to have their spin that they push now, rather than just reporting the story.
( and the Bay Area news stations are some of the worst offenders )
But maybe this will bring about some good, as it might drive everyone back towards the middle again.