Wackenhut Guard at Bank Shot During California Robbery

Dec. 19, 2005
Guard was staffed at Bank of America, was shot in parking lot outside bank
Armed robbers targeted banks Friday morning in Rialto and Upland, leaving one guard with a gunshot wound and one bank missing some cash.

Donald Hall, a Rialto Bank of America security guard, was grazed by a bullet fired by a masked gunman outside the bank at 409 E. Foothill Blvd. The robber fled empty-handed.

Hall, 65, of San Bernardino, was putting some paperwork in his rented Ford F-150 pickup about 10:30 a.m. when an armed man approached him from behind and demanded his gun.

Hall, who works for the security company Wackenhut, resisted and tossed his gun into the parking lot. A brief struggle ensued. Hall's attacker fired his revolver once, clipping Hall's right ear.

"He thought it was a joke,' said Hall's wife, Dorothy . "He called me. He said, 'Don't panic, I'm all right. I just got shot in the ear."

The gunman fled west on Foothill in a 1990s sport-utility vehicle. Witnesses said it might have been a silver or metallic, tan Chevrolet Suburban with three or four other men inside.

Hall, who has worked as a security guard at the bank for about two years, was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton for treatment.

His son, Dwayne, said he rushed to the scene after getting a call from his father.

"He was talking fine. He was acting like he stubbed his toe, when he got shot in the head,' Dwayne Hall, 32, said. "He's a tough old guy. He doesn't mess around.'

Minutes before the Rialto incident, three men at least one armed with a handgun robbed an Upland bank.

The men entered Rancho Bank at 2009 W. Foothill Blvd. at 10:09 a.m. Witnesses saw at least one man armed with a gun, said Upland police Sgt. Greg Signorio.

Police said the robbers demanded money and when they received the cash, they ran out of the bank and jumped into a red, full-size Chevrolet Silverado. Police responded to the bank after a silent alarm was triggered, but the men were not found.

Officers found the getaway car nearby.

"They dumped it in a business complex just north of the bank. It was a reported stolen vehicle out of the L.A. area,' Signorio said.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department responded and took the vehicle.

Police are unsure if the two robberies are connected.

"The FBI said they can't confirm whether they're related,' Signorio said. Staff Writer Melissa Pinion-Whitt contributed to this story.