A man who robbed a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Santa Maria remained at large Saturday evening after fleeing with an undisclosed amount of money hours earlier.

Santa Maria police investigators were joined by FBI agents at the bank in the 1400 block of South Broadway following the robbery which happened about 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The suspect approached the bank tellers, demanded money and brandished an unknown caliber handgun, according to Santa Maria police.

Tellers gave the suspect an undisclosed amount of money, and the man fled.

The suspect is described as being a white man between 30 and 40 years old, 6 feet 2 inches tall and 210 pounds, police said. He wore dark clothing.

The man was last seen running toward the nearby Vons, police said.

Saturday’s robbery followed one that occurred at a San Luis Obispo bank around 6 p.m. Friday.

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In that incident, a man brandished a small, dark-colored handgun and demanded and obtained money from a cashier at First Bank of San Luis Obispo in the 3000 block of Broad Street, according to the San Luis Obispo Police Department.

It was unclear Saturday evening whether the two robberies are connected, but Santa Maria police Lt. James Ginter said he knows that the detective bureau would have been in touch with the FBI, and they would “absolutely” be investigating whether the two are related.

Authorities were also looking into a report where a man wearing a motorcycle helmet and sunglasses entered an Orcutt bank on Saturday morning and quickly left without doing any business, departing in a white BMW.

January 4, 2009