ARMED ROBBERY SUSPECT FOUND AFTER 6-HOUR HUNT.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - An armed robber pistol-whipped a woman Thursday outside a Valencia bank, fled with the cash she was depositing, then escaped with another man in Canyon Country, where police dogs and SWAT team members tracked the gunman down.

After a six-hour operation, a special weapons and tactics team located the man suspected of being the gunman in an attic of a Cardinal Drive home just before 5:30 p.m., subdued him with a stun gun and took him into custody, officials said.

The other man remained at large late Thursday afternoon and sheriff's authorities believe he fled the area.

Police arrested Theodore Pacheco, 20. He faces charges of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon in the attack on the woman, as well as burglary charges related to the house break-in, said Sgt. Howard Fairchild of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Pacheco, who lives in the Los Angeles area, is being held on $250,000 bail, Fairchild said.

The drama started just before 11 a.m. when an employee of the Shell gas station at the corner of Valencia Boulevard and McBean Parkway tried to deposit cash at the Bank of America, a block from the gas station and across the street from City Hall.

As the woman walked through the parking lot, one of the suspects struck her in the head with a handgun and grabbed the cash bag while his accomplice waited in a getaway car, authorities said.

Sheriff's officials said the getaway car was registered to a 41-year-old man who had an outstanding arrest warrant on suspicion of attempted murder. However, it's unknown whether either suspect owns the vehicle.

The woman was treated at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital and released.

About 10 minutes later, two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies patrolling Santa Clarita's east side spotted a black Acura Legend that matched the description of the getaway car and followed it, police said. Detective Todd Anderson, of the Sheriff's Department's Hate Crimes Bureau, was in the area and assisted in the pursuit.

When the suspects realized they were being followed, they abandoned the car on Jason Way in Canyon Country and fled, police said. Anderson chased Pacheco, catching him near Cardinal and Wren drives. As Anderson placed him under arrest, the man appeared to give up and then suddenly began running again.

A resident returning home spotted the suspect dash into his back yard, and deputies quickly surrounded the neighborhood, police said.

Investigators believed the other man was near Jason Way and Flynn Drive, and surrounded that area for several hours, police said. By midafternoon, authorities focused on the gunman who they believed was barricaded in a Cardinal Drive home.

As deputies patrolled the area and evacuated residents, SWAT team members armed themselves, donned bullet-proof vests and plotted their strategy.

In searching one of the houses, deputies found the suspect and were able to arrest him.

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Sheriff's deputies search houses in Canyon Country for an armed robbery suspect.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer

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