by Mary O'Keefe
Nearly a week after allegedly robbing a La Cañada Flintridge bank, a Montrose resident continued Wednesday to be the target of a search by law enforcement officials.
Michael Mason Wolke, 58, is sought in the robbery that occurred June 3 at the Washington Mutual Bank located at 749 Foothill Blvd. Wolke is also a suspect in an attempted purse snatching in Glendale that occurred just 34 minutes before the La Cañada robbery.
No one was injured in either incident, but Wolke is considered armed and dangerous, said Detective Keith Gibbons of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Detective Keith Soboleski of Glendale Police Depart-ment's robbery homicide detail, said witnesses reported that at approximately 1:56 p.m. last Friday Wolke allegedly attempted to steal a purse from a female as she was getting into her car after making a transaction in the Washington Mutual Bank at 620 N. Glendale Ave., but was unsuccessful. Witnesses came to the victim's aid and attempted to detain Wolke, who got away before police arrived. A witness was able to record the California license plate number and the registered owner of the vehicle was identified as the suspect, Wolke.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. the same day, Wolke then allegedly held up the La Cañada Washington Mutual. The suspect got away before deputies arrived. Soboleski said no one saw a gun but added, "the suspect simulated a gun by gesturing toward his waistband." According to Gibbons, as the suspect was leaving the bank an antitheft dye bag exploded, spilling red-splotched money out onto the bank's driveway and Commonwealth Avenue.
Detectives will not release how much money was actually stolen or lost on the driveway and cannot determine how much money was covered by the red dye.
Law enforcement officials retrieved Wolke's address from the Department of Motor Vehicles and went to his home at the 2300 block of Mira Vista in Montrose, but he has not been seen at the location since the robberies. "He has left the area," said Gibbons.
Both Gibbons and Soboleski said Wolke is believed to still be in California.
