3 THE MAGIC NUMBER IN ROBBERIES AT BANK.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

Not once, but twice, the same two masked gunmen are suspected of robbing a Home Savings bank within a year in San Fernando, outsmarting police and getting away in the same kind of van.

On Tuesday, robbers held up the bank again, but police weren't about to let them get away.

Two suspects were arrested after a dramatic chase, and the bank money was recovered, authorities said. The men, whose identities were not immediately available, were being held in lieu of $50,000 bail each.

``Probably they figured it was easy because they got away with it twice before,'' said Lt. Robert Ordelheide of the San Fernando Police Department.

The police weren't about to let the suspects get away this time.

``Our whole station was involved - 14 of us. It was everybody - lieutenants, sergeants, police officers,'' he said. ``We needed to catch the guys.''

About 1:15 p.m., a customer leaving the bank saw two men dressing up in black ski masks and immediately reported this to police.

The two gunmen are suspected of storming into the bank in the 300 block of South Maclay Street and holding five people at gunpoint.

What the police learned in the two previous robberies was that each time, gunmen fled the bank and then dumped a stolen Toyota minivan at the intersection of Kewen and Carlisle streets about four blocks away from the bank to pick up a getaway car.

So when the alarm came in this time, the police decided to send some undercover patrol cars to the van drop-off point, while others went to the bank.

And true to past practice, the officers saw two suspects park a silver Toyota minivan and hop into a new black Ford Expedition before fleeing.

The chase was on, with the robbers nearly hitting other marked police cars, spinning backward and leading police on a wild 20-minute pursuit through Pacoima, Arleta and Northridge at speeds of up to 80 mph, Ordelheide said.

Eventually, nine cars of the San Fernando and Los Angeles police departments, and a police helicopter above, managed to trap the suspects at the corner of Tampa Avenue and Nordhoff Street, police said.