Bank Reopens After Teller’s Slaying

THOUSAND OAKS — The tellers hailed from Victorville and San Diego, not Camarillo. A security guard wearing a hip holster paced the lobby. And carnations, crosses, cards and candles clogged one entrance.

But Western Financial Bank reopened its doors Thursday, three days after teller Monica Lynne Leech, a Camarillo mother of two, was killed execution-style during a bank robbery.

At 9 a.m. sharp, a customer marched purposefully inside. Two minutes later, another arrived. And another. None of them frightened in the least.

“This may be one of the safest banks around now,” said Thousand Oaks resident Marge Minkler. “I came back because it’s convenient for me.”

Wearing a silver and turquoise cross around her neck, Minkler bore a mission beyond making a deposit. She wanted to teach the two robbers--who are still at large--a lesson.

“They didn’t win,” she said, hand on hip. “These guys didn’t win. You can walk in there and still feel the warmth and love of [Leech]. . . . The love and the warmth aren’t gone.”

The killing of Leech, 39, who was described by friends and family as a compassionate church-goer, rattled Thousand Oaks, which is consistently ranked among the safest cities with populations greater than 100,000.

Police say they have tips too numerous to count. With more than $160,000 in reward money as enticement, tipsters have been flooding phone lines. Although solid leads have been scant in recent days, police seemed upbeat about recent information.

“We have more--and possibly better--information than before,” said Chief Deputy Bob Brooks of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. “We’ve had an avalanche of calls. Tips are coming in on virtually every phone line we have.”

Special Agent Larry Dick of the FBI said investigators are paying close attention to a March 29 holdup in Danville, Calif., in which a Bank of America employee was shot in the arm.

The two incidents “certainly sound similar,” said Danville Police Sgt. Matt Chertkow. “We’d like to catch these guys.”

The Thousand Oaks suspects are described as being in their mid-20s, about 5 feet, 11 inches tall. One man was white; the other was black or dark-skinned. They were last seen in the car with a license plate beginning “3T.”

At the Western Financial Bank on Thursday, signs with descriptions of the suspects were taped by both doors. A veritable flower stand of bouquets from well-wishers crowded the sidewalk. A first-grade class had taped a paper and crayon card on the bank’s plate glass, reading “Our thoughts are with you.”

None of the six people working during the bank’s reopening witnessed Monday’s slaying, according to Kevin R. Farrenkopf, a senior vice president with the Irvine-based bank. They normally work in branches in Victorville, Costa Mesa, Irvine and San Diego.

The three surviving employees of the Thousand Oaks branch, with the help of crisis counselors, family and friends are working through the grieving process, Farrenkopf said.