Water district employee who kept bank robber in his sights is honored

Boyd Schultz had no idea what was coming when he walked into the Wells Fargo bank on Ocean Avenue on a typical Friday last September, or that his part in events would lead to the arrest and conviction of a robber and Schultz being honored by the City Council five months later.

Schultz, a Laguna Beach County Water District technician, had taken his place in line 15 minutes before closing time, ready to deposit his paycheck. Ahead of him was a woman and, ahead of her, a man with dark sunglasses and a baseball cap that covered a portion of a wig that Schultz said made him look like the comedian Carrot Top.

The woman turned to Schultz and said, “I’m getting out of here. That man is wearing a disguise.”

Now hyper-aware of his fellow customer, Schultz, 43, stepped up to the counter next to the man and saw him hand a note to the teller that read, “God sent me down here,” according to Laguna Beach police. The man asked the teller for $20 and $50 bills, Sgt. Tim Kleiser said.

The teller was too scared to comply and instead ran to her manager. As the man quickly left the counter and headed for the door, the bank manager told Schultz he was about to press the panic button.

Schultz watched the robber walk out of the bank and trailed him while calling 911.

The man crossed the street and entered a public restroom. Schultz waited outside.

Minutes later, a man with the same height and build as the person from the bank walked out, but to be sure, Schultz asked a bystander if anyone else was in the restroom. Hearing there was not, Schultz continued his chase into a breezeway near Bushard’s Pharmacy.

That’s where two Laguna Beach officers converged to arrest 28-year-old San Diego resident Dana Richard Arnold on suspicion of felony robbery, Kleiser said.

Officers did not find a weapon on Arnold, Kleiser said. Police searched the restroom and found a wig and T-shirt stuffed in a toilet.

After a trial, during which Schultz testified, Arnold was sentenced to one year in jail and three years probation.

“People ask me, ‘Why did you chase him? He could have had a gun,’” said Schultz, who has been with the water district for eight years. “I felt safe enough. Police officers can’t be everywhere, every time. If I can do my citizen duty to stop this guy, that’s how I was raised. That is what this country is all about.”

The City Council honored Schultz at its meeting Tuesday.