LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Diane Klein isn’t sure what she would trust more to hold her money — IndyMac Bank or a hole in her backyard.

The retired teacher is among hundreds of people who have crowded outside IndyMac Bank branches across Southern California this week, many waiting hours in line to withdraw their funds from the failing bank that was seized by federal regulators.

“Once I get in the door, I’m going to get every penny I can out of there,” Klein told The Associated Press while waiting in line outside the bank’s headquarters in Pasadena. “I’m going to bury it in the backyard.”

Klein chose IndyMac for its high interest rates but now stood to lose some of her money. She said her account has more than the federally insured limit of $100,000 and didn’t want to risk losing any of it.

“I worked my whole life for this money,” she said. “It’s kind of scary.”

People waiting outside IndyMac branches have gotten emotional at times. At one point police had to be called to a branch in the normally quiet Encino neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. Tempers grew short Tuesday morning when customers who had arrived before dawn accused others of cutting in line.

Some of the line jumpers had been turned away the day before but were given vouchers granting priority by bank employees.

Police quickly restored order without arrests, and as the day progressed people were divided into two lines that together stretched for nearly a block. People wanting to close accounts were let in, in groups of five.

Joan Rubin sat in a beach chair on the sidewalk in stifling heat along with about 200 other anxious, embittered and sometimes angry customers awaiting a chance to demand their money just four days after the bank was seized.

“I’ve already lost three nights of sleep and three days of eating; now I’m done,” Rubin, 52, who said she planned to empty her account with the bank, which has 33 branches, all in Southern California.

Lillian Krasn said she had a strange feeling something was wrong when she arrived at the branch a week ago to renew her certificate of deposit, but she went ahead anyway. She came back Tuesday to cash it in and take the money elsewhere — although exactly where, she hadn’t decided.

“Where do you go from here?” the 78-year-old retiree asked. “Under your mattress?”

Shortly before noon, two employees of rival Comerica Bank arrived to hand out water bottles with their business cards taped to them. They said they hoped to scoop up some former IndyMac customers like Krasn.

“One man’s loss is another man’s treasure — or something like that,” said Comerica banker Danny Sobrino.

Meanwhile, as the wait stretched into hours, people fanned themselves with their bank documents as they sweated in the hot California sun.

The Office of Thrift Supervision transferred control of the bank to the FDIC on Friday because it didn’t think IndyMac could meet depositor demand. Over the weekend, it became IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB, and by Monday morning the scramble by bank customers to recover their money was on.

Most depositors were given immediate access to up to $100,000 in their accounts and 50 percent of any money beyond that threshold, although depositors with joint accounts or retirement accounts could immediately withdraw greater sums, said David Barr, a spokesman for the FDIC, which is now operating the bank.

Depositors were given receivership certificates for any money they couldn’t immediately withdraw and may be able to receive some of that money after the bank’s assets are sold off, he said.

“It is possible for them to receive more in the future. It’s impossible at this point to say how much more. That depends on how much we can get from the sale of the bank and the sale of its assets,” Barr said.

About 10,000 of IndyMac’s 275,000 accounts contained uninsured sums, and uninsured money made up about $1 billion of the bank’s $19 billion in deposits, he said.

The FDIC also announced Tuesday that IndyMac had halted proceedings on loans in foreclosure. Barr did not know how many loans the bank had in foreclosure or how much they were worth.

Around noon Tuesday, the line had decreased to about 100 as some were persuaded to schedule appointments and return later.

Others weren’t willing to wait — or to leave until they had their money in hand.

“I just can’t take their word for it,” said Ismelda Quintos, an accountant. “I want to get my money out so I can sleep at night. It’s hard-earned money, and I’m not rich, so it’s a big deal for me.”

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Associated Press Writer Raquel Maria Dillon contributed to this report.

Front Page Photo: Customers on IndyMac Federal Bank write their names on a sign up sheet on the bank’s front door while they wait in line to pull as much money as they could from the failed financial institution in Burbank, Calif. Monday July 14, 2008. The bank was helping ten customers per hour and the list was at least couple of hundred names long soon after they opened their doors. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)