OXNARD : Bank Robbed for 2nd Time in 2 Days

An Oxnard bank was robbed for the second time in two days on Friday, authorities said.

A man robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 460 Esplanade Drive in Oxnard at 1:50 p.m. and escaped on a bicycle--but not before a red-dye packet that clings to clothes and skin exploded on him, said Gary Auer, agent in charge of the FBI’s Ventura County office.

After the man asked the teller for money, he was given a red-dye packet with the cash. After he left the bank, the dye packet exploded, giving off smoke and gas, Auer said.

Witnesses told authorities that they last saw the man peddling through a large parking structure with a stream of red smoke trailing after him.

FBI officials believe this is the first bank the man has robbed in the area. He was described as a white man in his mid-20s, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall with a slim build and blond hair. He was wearing a light blue striped shirt and light blue denim pants.

On Thursday, a man suspected of nine county bank robberies and one attempted robbery robbed the Oxnard Wells Fargo.

In that case, a dye packet exploded and the robber was chased into the street, Auer said. The man fled into a housing complex. Undercover police agents staked out the area and arrested an Oxnard man about two hours later, Lt. Stan Myers of the Oxnard Police Department said.

Jose Luis Villareal, 19, was being held on suspicion of bank robbery and for outstanding misdemeanor warrants, a jail spokesman said. Villareal is also believed to be responsible for a bank robbery in the San Fernando Valley, Auer said.