Bank of the West in Los Altos Robbed

For the first time in more than a year, a Los Altos bank has been robbed.

Los Altos Police said a man entered the Bank of the West at 176 Main Street shortly after 4 p.m. on Monday. He was dressed in dark clothing and a displayed a hand gun, demanding money, said Sgt. Mark Bautista.

He left with an undisclosed amount of cash. "It only took a minute or two," said Bautista, who didn't know if there were any customers in the bank at the time.

The robbery is under investigation and Bautista said he does not know if any surveillance video will be made available by detectives.

Bank robberies are actually on the decline, a recent report in the Wall Street Journal said. NPR reporter Audie Cornish, who once worked a bank teller herself, interviewed the Wall Street Journal reporter, who noted that thieves can more easily steal via computer instead of walking into a bank branch.

The last bank robbery Bautista recalls is the hit at Loyola Corners, on the . That incident was one of many serial robberies believe to be committed by the same hirsute individual who has walked into U.S. Bank branches in the South Bay and in Davis, Calif.  

"It doesn't happen every day, that's for sure," Sgt. Bautista said. "We haven't had much activity."