BANK ROBBERY PURSUIT ENDS IN VALLEY SUSPECTS HIDE FOR HOURS IN GARAGE.

Byline: SUE DOYLE and ALEX DOBUZINSKIS

Staff Writers

GRANADA HILLS -- For 90 minutes Friday, James Stichter knew two suspected bank robbers were holed up inside his detached garage, but couldn't reach police to tell them.

Shortly after 9 a.m., the gunmen had hit a Washington Mutual Bank in Stevenson Ranch. After a 13-mile high-speed chase, they ditched their car and ended up in the 50-year-old's backyard.

So Stichter called 911 -- over and over again. And couldn't get through.

Finally, when a dispatcher answered, he tried to tell her the robbers were right there in his garage, but she cut him off and told him everything was "under control." Then, a dial tone.

Knowing Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies were scouring his neighborhood for the duo, Stichter waited for authorities to make their way to his house on Index Street and Monogram Avenue.

Meanwhile, he took a nap.

"They didn't want to be found," said Stichter, explaining his coolness under pressure. "What could I do about it?"

Eventually deputies showed up about 11 a.m. and by 1 p.m. had arrested Bobby Black, 46, of Los Angeles and Leroy Johnson, believed to be a transient. Both were bitten by sheriff's dogs during the garage search and were treated for minor injuries.

Originally, authorities were unsure if Black was a man or a woman, since he has breasts, said Lt. Larry Gump of the sheriff's Santa Clarita station.

An unnamed woman suspected of driving the getaway car was arrested earlier at Hayvenhurst Avenue and Simonds Street, where the trio abandoned the car.

The drama began about 9:15 a.m. just after the bank opened in the Valencia Marketplace shopping center. An off-duty sheriff's deputy walking by saw patrons inside with their arms in the air and a man pointing a gun, Sgt. Darren Harris said.

The deputy called for backup. Nobody was injured in the bank, and police later spotted the getaway car heading south on the Golden State (5) Freeway. The chase was on.

It reached up to 85 mph across the 405 and 118 freeways. Along the way, the suspects threw items from the car, which police at first believed were bags of money.

"I wish I was there," said Steve Curran, 19, who woke up to the heavy sound of sheriff's helicopters in his neighborhood. "I could use some of that money."

Unfortunately for Curran, the discarded items were not cash but pieces of the men's disguises: a tool belt and some clothing.

Authorities also recovered a fake beard. One suspect had dressed as a construction worker. The other wore a windbreaker and a baseball cap.

The area around the Hayvenhurst exit off the 118 -- where they ditched the getaway car and one of them was caught -- sat wrapped in yellow police tape as sheriff's helicopters darted overhead and a calvary of squad cars filed in. Bewildered residents stepped outside, learned that armed men were on the run and locked their doors.

Kennedy High, Danube Street Elementary and Tulsa Street Elementary schools went into lockdown as authorities combed the neighborhoods for the two remaining suspects after the female suspect was caught.

Granada Hills resident Vera Rabadi peered over the police tape and shook her head. With a 9-year-old boy in lockdown at nearby Tulsa Street Elementary, Rabadi was anxious for authorities to quickly find the robbers.

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) One of the two men identified as the Washington Mutual Bank robbery suspects puts his head down as he is taken away in a sheriff's squad car to the Santa Clarita station, where he and his accomplices were arrested on suspicion of bank robbery and other charges Friday.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

(2) Armed gunmen robbed the Washington Mutual Bank in Stevenson Ranch on Friday, then fled in a getaway car allegedly driven by a woman accomplice. Sheriff's deputies chased them to an area near Devonshire Street in the Valley.

David Crane/Staff Photographer