RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a man who may have robbed several Southern California banks has been found dead in a car after a chase.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department says deputies responding to a robbery at the Pacific Western Bank in Dana Point began chasing a nearby pickup truck Friday afternoon but lost it.
It was spotted again about a half-hour later in Mission Viejo. Authorities say a brief chase ended with the truck smashing into a parked car in nearby Rancho Santa Margarita.
A SWAT team was called and found the driver dead. There’s no word on how he died.
Authorities say they’re trying to determine whether the man is the so-called “Leatherface Bandit,” a masked gunman who had robbed three other Orange County banks since March.
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