A Little Too Much Bang For His Bucks

A cash withdrawal carried a bang for a man who accidentally was handed an exploding packet of dye and tear gas along with his money.

Amir Brikho had just made a large withdrawal Saturday from Valle de Oro Bank in La Mesa when he heard a loud bang as he left the bank. He looked down and saw red all over his legs and waist.

“I thought somebody had shot me,” Brikho said. “I was burning from inside and smoke was coming from my shorts.”

Brikho, 38, had been handed a dye and tear-gas pack normally given only to bank robbers.

He took off his burned shorts and ran back into the bank carrying them, still streaming tear gas. He collapsed on the floor and told employees to call the police.

Brikho was treated at a hospital for burns and smoke inhalation.

“Now it is funny, but at the time it was serious,” Brikho said.

Officials at the suburban San Diego bank would not comment. The bank was temporarily closed Saturday so that employees could air out the lingering odor of tear gas.