Tag Archives: bank manager

LOS ANGELES: A Bank Robbery, a Car Salesman and the Eternal Traveler

I was covering the dramatic bank robbery at the BofA in East L.A. this morning. Appears a couple guys kidnapped the manager last night, apparently as she was on her way home, then brought her to the bank this morning with a bomb strapped to her body.

She went in and told employees that she had the device on her and the kidnappers were telling her to take money out, which she did, then put the cash in a bag and threw it out to them, waiting in a car. They made their getaway.

She was unhurt, though shaken, and a Sheriff’s bomb squad disarmed the device.

Stories like this can involve a lot of waiting around, talking with bystanders who might have seen something. One of them was Octavio Medrano, a salesman at a used car lot, who’s been in the area “like all my life,” he says, selling used SUVs and Nissans and the like. He’s from Chihuahua.

He arrived at work too late for the commotion. But as we talked he began telling me about his other line of work.

In his part time, he writes about eternity. Just finished his second book, as it turns out — Viajero Eterno (Eternal Traveler). His card urges people to read the books if they are want to learn”the secrets of the seven doors of knowledge” or “the secret of reincarnation” or “the road to internal peace” or “our relation with the moon and planets,” and more.

All in all, that’s a lot more than I’ expect to learn at any used car lot.

Btw, you can pick up Mr. Medrano’s book at Amazon.com or www.palibrio.com.

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Filed under Culture, Los Angeles, Storytelling