A Los Gatos man was arrested for bank robbery, kidnapping, and carjacking Saturday morning. Authorities say that 61-year-old Richard Gene Blackman walked into the Capitola branch of Bank of the West at about 9:15 a.m., armed with a sawed-off shotgun under a rain coat. Blackman then robbed a teller of an undisclosed sum, before forcing her at gunpoint to her car, where he had intended to take her hostage. Instead Blackman fled in the stolen vehicle. A short time later, a deputy spotted the robber parked in the vehicle on Chanticleer Street. After a brief standoff, the suspect threatened suicide. When he attempted to shoot himself the deputy was able to wrestle the suspect and weapon to the ground. Blackman was booked into county jail.
