5 CHARGED IN ARMORED CAR HEIST 2 ALLEGEDLY POSED AS GUARDS, USED SIGNAL KNOCK AND TOOK $1.2 MILLION.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Five Lancaster men have been charged with grand theft and conspiracy in the $1.2 million heist of an armored car truck that occurred during the early morning hours outside a Lancaster Boulevard bank.

Two of the defendants worked as guards for the Sylmar-based armored truck firm and were described by investigators as the masterminds who persuaded three of their friends to commit the Aug. 29 theft.

``The armored car that was servicing Washington Mutual banks in the Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita Valley areas returned back to the Sylmar plant and noticed that a little more than $1.2 million was missing,'' Detective James Dillard said.

Charged in the incident were Elder Cortez, 23; Lawrence Lacusong, 26; brothers Arturo and Fernando Acosta, 21 and 22, respectively; and Robert Rice, 22.

They were each being held in lieu of $1.2 million bail and were scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 1, sheriff's records show.

All but $80,000 of the money has been recovered, Dillard said.

The attorney for Lacusong declined to comment.

Tyson Beers, attorney for Fernando Acosta, said he doesn't anticipate the case proceeding to trial.

``At this point we are in negotiations with the D.A.'s Office to see if there's a way to resolve it,'' Beers said.

The theft took less than 30 seconds and occurred while the armored car, staffed by a driver and two guards, was making its rounds servicing Washington Mutual banks in the area, Dillard said.

While the two guards were inside the bank, two men wearing similar uniforms approached the truck and used a signal knock to get the driver to open an electric door lock. Without the driver realizing the men were imposters, they took the money and disappeared before the real guards emerged from the bank.

The driver initially was arrested but was not charged, Dillard said.

``We determined he was not involved. It was a very large mistake on his part,'' Dillard said.

The driver thought he opened the door for his actual co-workers.

``It seems the driver was not paying attention to his duties,'' Dillard said. ``The driver said he does not remember opening the door for anybody but the guards themselves.''

Authorities are alleging that the Acosta brothers were the two men who posed as guards and that Rice was driving the car in which they fled.

Detectives were able to narrow the location of the theft down to the Lancaster branch after it was determined that money taken from previous stops was missing, Dillard said.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

[phone]