Suspect Sought in Bank Robbery

A man wearing a white hard hat robbed the Bank of America on the 2600 block of Main Street on Saturday morning, a Ventura Police Department spokesman said.

The man gave a note to the teller that read “100 bills,” the spokesman said. After being handed the money, the suspect ran out through a back door and down an alley, police said.

There was a small explosive charge filled with red dye in the packet of money that the teller handed the robber. When the suspect was about 100 feet from the bank, the charge exploded, coating him with a red dye that cannot be washed off, the spokesman said.

Police said the man was last seen getting into a small blue pickup truck. The robbery is under investigation.