ROBBERY SUSPECTS CAUGHT CITIZENS AID DEPUTIES AFTER LOCAL STICKUP.

Byline: Susan Abram and Eugene Tong Staff Writers

VALENCIA - It wasn't their lucky day.

Two bank robbery suspects never had a chance - they were followed Friday in their getaway car by a witness after snatching $2,500 from a Lyons Avenue bank, Santa Clarita sheriff's deputies said.

A harrowing chase by deputies followed. They lost the robbers at one point, but were on the trail in moments to a Carl's Jr restaurant near Valencia High School, where an off-duty LAPD officer spotted two men ditching a car and running inside. Deputies arrested one suspect in the restroom at gunpoint, Sgt. William Petz said.

As the lunchtime traffic created confusion, the second suspect hopped a city bus heading to the Valencia mall, deputies said. A passer-by spotted the near-escape and called the sheriff's station in the midst of a manhunt by ground and air. Deputies raced to the Valencia Town Center mall where the second man was arrested after a brief bus ride.

``We had three different informants,'' Petz said. ``People stepped up, that's what accounted for the captures.''

And much was caught on videotape by a fourth man.

The drama began about 11:15 a.m. six miles away at Citibank in Valencia. A man entered the bank and handed a teller a threatening note demanding money, according to a sheriff's report. The robber fled with the cash, mostly in $20 bills, and jumped into a silver Pontiac driven by the a second man.

With the witness following, the Pontiac raced at 90 mph north on the Golden State Freeway, exited on Magic Mountain Parkway and recklessly drove a circuitous route toward Newhall Ranch Road. Deputies said the driver headed into opposing traffic and ran a red light.

Saugus resident Rauof Sayegh was driving home when he saw the chase. He grabbed his video camera and followed the parade of squad cars down Avenue Stanford in the Valencia Industrial Center to the strip mall on Newhall Ranch Road.

``He was driving so erratically,'' Sayegh said. ``It was very scary to watch. I've only seen something like this on television.''

He continued recording as the pair abandoned the car, and ran toward the shopping center, Sayegh said.

``Everyone was in a panic,'' he said of the customers milling around Carl's Jr.

Luis Cervantes, a trash hauler, was ordering lunch when two men burst through the door.

``They sat down right after they came in,'' he said, pointing at a booth by the west entrance. ``They just came in a second before the cops did.''

Close to a dozen sheriff's deputies entered Carl's from two sides.

Deputies found one man inside the bathroom, and hauled him out in handcuffs.

``They dragged him out, and they asked him about the guy he was with,'' Cervantes said.

With guns drawn, sheriff's deputies continued searching for the second suspect, scouring nearby Dumpsters while a helicopter kept watch overhead. The manhunt shifted to the Valencia mall when a bystander alerted deputies that the man had caught a city bus. The second suspect was arrested without incident.

The sheriff's dragnet just a block away forced Valencia High School into lockdown for 45 minutes. Officials at a day care center and nearby private elementary school also were alerted.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) With guns drawn, sheriff's deputies check the back of a truck for one of the bank robbery suspects at a shopping plaza along Newhall Ranch Road.

(2 -- color) One of the two suspects in the bank robbery is held by a sheriff's deputy for identification after his arrest at the Valencia Town Center mall.

(3) A bank robbery suspect is held by a sheriff's deputy after being arrested at a fast-food restaurant along Newhall Ranch Road.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer