Picture Perfect Reaction

IPhone captures get-away car

An alert man helps police catch a suspect minutes after a bank robbery in Kearny Mesa, police said.

The robbery happened Tuesday at the Union Bank of California on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.

An employee of a nearby golf store was outside taking a smoke break when he noticed a man acting strangely. He saw an unfamiliar car parked in a lot used by employees, so he took a picture of the vehicle with his iPhone. Within 30 minutes of the witness taking that photo, police had Luis Padilla, 37, in custody after an officer spotted his car parked at a Bay Park gas station.

Police were reviewing surveillance video as well as items found inside the suspect’s car.

Padilla was scheduled to be tried in federal court.

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