Four people came to the rescue at a Tehachapi bank after a man claiming to have explosives attempted to rob the bank.

It happened just before noon when a man wearing a ski mask entered Bank of the Sierra on F Street in Tehachapi. The suspect asked employees and customers to place their hands in the air and demanded money.

The suspect then fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash and that’s when police say two customers, a bank employee and former correctional officer Larry Mathews tackled the suspect.

Mathews said it was his duty to protect his hometown.

"I’ve lived here all my life and that's my money in that bank and it's my little town. I guess I just jumped into action, me and the loan officer and we took him out,” said Mathews.

The suspect has been identified as 59-year-old Michael Brian Taylor of Tehachapi. He is in custody and police say Taylor was on federal probation for past bank robberies.