A 53-year-old man was charged Friday with a takeover-style bank robbery in Anaheim.
Eric Walter Gray was charged with three counts of kidnapping to commit robbery, two counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery, three counts of resisting arrest and a count of escape by someone in custody with a use of force, all felonies.
Police responded to the BMO bank branch at 4501 E. La Palma Ave. about 4:40 p.m. Wednesday for the bank holdup, according to Anaheim Police Department Sgt. Jon McClintock.
Gray was accused of taking a few bank employees hostage in the stickup, then barricading himself in a room with one of the bank workers, McClintock said.
Gray claimed he had a gun and took an undisclosed amount of cash from the bank, McClintock alleged.
Anaheim’s SWAT officers responded and were able to rescue a victim as they arrested Gray after an hourlong standoff, McClintock said.
None of the bank employees was injured and no weapon was recovered, McClintock said.
Gray pleaded guilty to robbery Sept. 12, 2023, according to court records. He was sentenced to two years in prison for the Oct. 4, 2022, robbery.
Gray did not enter a plea to his current case at his arraignment in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 24 in the North Justice Center in Fullerton.