Police Lt. Jim Lardieri said they have identified the suspect as 25-year-old Anthony Alvarez of San Francisco. Alvarez is 5 feet 5 inches tall, 160 pounds and has brown eyes and brown hair styled in corn rows.
Officers conducting a follow up investigation of the May 26 robbery of a U.S. Bank had stopped a vehicle they believed contained Alvarez, Lardieri said.
Alvarez fled from the vehicle at Willow Pass Road and Waterworld Parkway toward the Walnut Creek channel and officers gave chase.
At one point during the chase, Alvarez fired at a pursuing officer and the officer returned fire, he said.
The officer was not injured.
Alvarez fled towards the channel area.
In the air, the California Highway Patrol deployed helicopters to assist in the search, Lardieri said.
On the ground, SWAT teams from Concord Police and the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office aided in a large-scale search of the area, but even the K-9 units couldn't sniff out the perpetrator.
During last month's robbery of the bank branch at 4663 Clayton Road, the suspect entered the bank and approached a teller with what appeared to be a gun in his hand, he said.
He demanded money, was given an undisclosed amount of cash from the teller, and then fled on foot. No one was injured in the robbery.
Anyone with information about Alvarez's whereabouts is asked to contact Concord police at (925) 671-3333, or anonymously at (925) 603-5836 or (800) 222-8477.
