Wanted bank robber flies off freeway during police chase

A suspected serial bank robber known to police as the "Hills Bandit" was taken into custody Thursday afternoon following an hours-long chase through multiple counties and subsequent crash in Rialto. The suspect, identified as 53-year-old Stephen Richard Bartlett, was being investigated by the Whittier Police Department for a report of a possible fraud involving $12,000 order of steel from a Santa Fe Springs business. Authorities said Bartlett left the steel business Thursday with product in the back of a United Rentals stake truck. When officers attempted to make a traffic stop, he reportedly took off and the pursuit started just after 10 a.m. The pursuit began just after 10 a.m. on surface streets in the Whittier area and continued through La Habra and Brea, police said. The suspect threw a semiautomatic gun out of the vehicle early in the pursuit, which was later recovered. The pursuit carried onto the northbound side of the 57 Freeway and onto the eastbound lanes of the 60 Freeway, headed toward the Inland Empire. Just after noon, the suspect began driving the opposite direction on the northbound side of the 215 Freeway. Bartlett stepped out momentarily at the median, but got back in the truck and made a U-turn onto the southbound side. Around 1 p.m., he lost control on the westbound side of the 210 Freeway in Rialto and overturned near a creek bed. Minutes later, the driver crawled out of the cab and surrendered to police. It was later determined that Bartlett was wanted on a series of bank robberies from Santa Barbara to Orange County, known as the "Hills Bandit." The pursuit lasted nearly three hours and went through Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. It reached speeds of 80 to 90 miles per hour. He was sent to a nearby hospital for minor injuries and will be held in the Whittier Police Department Jail. He is being booked on felony theft, felony evading, felony vehicle embezzlement, two hit and run collisions and numerous warrants including bank robbery. Bartlett's driver's license shows an address in Nevada, police said.