Calif. bank robbers strap "bomb" to bank manager's body

EAST LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Authorities were searching Wednesday for two men who robbed a bank of "substantial" money after kidnapping the bank manager the night before and strapping a purported bomb to her body, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

The two men held captive the bank manager, a resident of Huntington Park, California, during the night, and then the manager drove herself or was taken to a Bank of America in East Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Capt. Mike Parker.

The manager entered the bank vault and told employees about the device strapped to her body, Parker said.

The manager then threw the money out the back door where the two men were waiting, Parker said.

The two robbers fled the scene, police said.

The elaborate plot evoked a Hollywood movie script.

"I've been on 28 years and this is the first time I've seen this," Parker said.

A bomb squad later carefully removed the device from the woman's body and used a robot to disabled the device, Parker said.

Investigators weren't available to state whether the device was an actual bomb, a fake or a dud, Parker said.

Detectives also weren't providing details about the abduction of the manager and didn't provide descriptions of the two robbers, Parker said.

The bank manager wasn't injured, Parker said.