BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Three injured in crash on Bristol and Jamboree

Three people were taken to the hospital Wednesday after a car that ran a red light on Bristol Street and Jamboree Road was struck by an oncoming vehicle, according to Newport Beach Police.

Just after noon, San Clemente resident Alex Alexander was eastbound on Bristol Street in a maroon Ford Windstar when he went through the red light and was struck by a 2002 BMW 745 going north on Jamboree Road, police said. Alexander’s car rolled through the intersection and down an embankment in the bushes on the shoulder of the 73 Freeway, Sgt. Bill Hartford said.

Firefighters worked to free one person and treated three others on scene, including both drivers and Alexander’s passenger. Two people were taken to Western Medical Center and the other was taken to Mission Hospital, Newport Beach Fire Department spokeswoman Jennifer Schulz said.

Their conditions are unknown, but none of the injuries were believed to be life threatening, Hartford said.

Alexander was cited for running the red light, Hartford said.

Cue-card bandit suspect arrested by deputies

After a brief standoff in a South County business Wednesday afternoon, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department arrested a Garden Grove man accused of attempting to rob banks in Costa Mesa and Corona del Mar last month.

The man believed to be cue-card bandit was identified only as a 40-year-old man at the request of the FBI. He was arrested after he robbed two banks in South Orange County on Wednesday, Sheriff’s Lt. Hans Strand said. He first robbed a Mission Viejo bank Wednesday, then went to a Washington Mutual in Laguna Hills, authorities said. A sheriff’s deputy was able to follow the car. The robber reportedly bailed out of the car and took refuge in a window-framing company. The SWAT team was able to arrest the man without further incident just after 4:30 p.m., Strand said.

The man is suspected of hitting 14 banks in Orange County since September.

In Corona del Mar, a robber left after the bank teller said he had no cash. The cue-card bandit got away with an undisclosed amount of cash in a Sept. 1 Costa Mesa robbery.