Man arrested after incident at bank

Friday, May 7, 2004 | 10:58 a.m.

A Las Vegas man was arrested Thursday after a woman teller was held hostage with a box cutter at the Wells Fargo Bank inside an Albertson's near Jones Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.

Fabio Alvarez walked into the grocery store, 5975 W. Tropicana Ave., at 3:10 p.m. and headed straight to the Wells Fargo Bank, Officer Jose Montoya, spokesman for Metro Police, said.

Alvarez jumped over a counter, put his arm around a female teller and told her that he had a box cutter in his hand, Montoya said.

No demands for money were made and robbery charges were not filed. Alvarez, however, was arrested on kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon charges.

The robbery victim told police the attacker said something about al-Qaida, Metro robbery Sgt. Al Cervantes said. But after further investigation it was determined the man had no connection to the terrorist organization and that there were no homeland security issues, Cervantes said.

Preliminary findings were that the attacker may be mentally ill, suffering from schizophrenia, and may have been off his medication, police said.

Alvarez nevertheless was arrested. It will be up to the courts to determine if he is mentally ill and what affect that will have on the charges, police said.

The teller was not injured, police said.