Police searching for Kings Beach bank robber

Area law enforcement are searching for a man who robbed the Bank of The West branch Monday afternoon, officers said.

The robber is described as a white male, about 6 foot, 2 inches and donning a fake beard, a California High Patrol officer said. Officers suspect the male is driving a maroon or burgundy four-door sedan, and the use of an accomplice has not been ruled out, the officer said.

A spokeswoman in the Placer County Sheriff's Office Tahoe division confirmed at about 3:30 p.m. Monday that officers were searching for a suspect, but declined to give other details.

According to scanner traffic, officers began staging along various areas of state routes 28 and 267 through Kings Beach and into Crystal Bay and Incline along Highway 28.

Placer and Washoe County Sheriff's officers stopped a maroon four-door sedan at about 3:45 p.m. at the corner of Village Boulevard and State Route 28 in Incline.

They put an elderly male and female in handcuffs before determining they were a couple visiting the area, releasing them at about 4 p.m.

"Unfortunately, these were not the folks we were looking for," said PCSO Deputy Rick Schnoor. "We're still getting more information over there in Kings Beach."

The robbery is the sixth in the area since December. According to published reports, a robber hit Wells Fargo in Grass Valley, Calif. on Thursday, March 4, and three branches of the Bank of the West in Grass Valley and Truckee have been hit since Dec. 22.

In South Lake Tahoe, an unidentified man robbed a Bank of the West branch on Feb. 18, and the Wells Fargo bank inside the Raley's Supermarket was robbed Feb. 10.