TEMPLE CITY – Three people suspected of robbing a Bank of the West branch in Temple City Wednesday were arrested during rush hour on the 10 Freeway at the interchange with the 5 Freeway in Boyle Heights, authorities said.
Levell Martin, 38, of Los Angeles, Calvin Sims, 33, of Los Angeles, and Daneyelle Jackson, 22, of Inglewood were arrested on suspicion of robbery and kidnapping, Lt. Thomas McNeal of the sheriff’s Temple Station said
The robbery was reported in the 9900 block of Las Tunas Drive at about 4:50 p.m., McNeal said.
When deputies arrived at the bank, they were told two males and a female had just committed the robbery, got into a black van and fled. Witnesses gave deputies a partial license plate number from the van, McNeal said.
A short time later, a Temple Station deputy was searching for the suspects and saw the van on the westbound 10 Freeway, near Walnut Grove Avenue in Rosemead.
The deputy requested backup and was assisted on the freeway by a sheriff’s helicopter crew, deputies with trained dogs, more deputies from Temple City and East Los Angeles, and California Highway Patrol officers, McNeal said.
The van and its occupants stopped on the westbound 10 at the interchange with the 5. The suspects surrendered without the need for the use of force, McNeal said.
They were arrested on suspicion of bank robbery and taken to the Temple Station for booking.
Money allegedly stolen from the bank, a weapon, and other evidence connecting the suspects to the alleged bank robbery were found inside the van, McNeal said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detectives were working with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the robbery, McNeal said.
“Thanks to the help of good witnesses, deputies had a description of the suspects and their van,” McNeal said. “With that information, a very alert deputy spotted the suspects and their vehicle, leading to their arrest.”