Tough-luck man nabbed in heist

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Police arrested a 51-year-old Sacramento man Tuesday morning on suspicion of robbing a financial district bank and botching two attempts to carjack a getaway vehicle.

David Bryant wore no mask as he entered a Wachovia Bank branch just after 9 a.m.; when the teller refused to give him money, Bryant jumped the counter and took it himself, said Lt. John Loftus of the department’s robbery detail.

As Bryant ran out the door, bills slipped from his grasp and scattered along the 200 block of Pine Street. Loftus said he didn’t know how much money escaped as the suspect ran, but most was accounted for.

According to police, Bryant ran up California Street and threatened a woman with a knife. She refused to give up her Volvo and sped off. Nearby construction workers saw the attempted carjacking and chased after the man.

Police said Bryant threatened another driver as the workers chased after him, but the man would not give up his van. At Bush and Sansome streets, he allegedly stopped a cab and forced the driver to take him into the Tenderloin, narrowly escaping the workers.

But police captured Bryant after he left the cab. He was walking down Leavenworth Street near Tenderloin Station.

“These guys, sometimes they get a little desperate, and they’re not always rational,” Loftus said.

Bryant was charged with five counts of robbery, two counts of attempted carjacking, one count of carjacking and one count of kidnapping.

bbegin@examiner.com