211: December 2007 Archives

This from KCBS/KCAL:

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― The alleged "Newlywed Bandits," believed to be responsible for five Los Angeles-area bank robberies in a three-week span, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of bank robbery and conspiracy.

Rayceana Racheal Rocha, 22, and Paul Harlen Meyercamp Jr., 26, entered their pleas before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Block. At one point, like a couple in love, Rocha and Meyercamp whispered to each other, looked into each other's eyes and smiled.

The unmarried couple, christened "the Newlywed Bandits" by an FBI agent who watched them on surveillance tapes, were arrested last month when they allegedly robbed a pedestrian and carjacked a vehicle in Las Vegas, then led police on a pursuit.

Rocha, who was driving, crashed the vehicle and was taken into custody. Meyercamp was caught following a brief foot pursuit, the FBI said.

Between Oct. 18 and Nov. 8, they allegedly robbed a Wells Fargo branch in La Habra, East West Bank branches in El Monte and Diamond Bar, a Bank of America in Duarte and a Downey Savings in Claremont.

Rocha is a student at Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier and Meyercamp is on parole, according to the FBI.

The Wrong Slip Bandit is back. And he's still targeting Bank of the West.

Sources tell Crime Scene that the bandit pictured on the left hit the Bank of the West on Durfee Road in South El Monte Monday afternoon.

He took an undisclosed amount of cash. But no doubt he had another picture taken for the inevitable court case. We profiled this guy in July, about the time the FBI unveiled their LA bank robbery website.

Here's a story from Whittier reporter Ruby Gonzales that ran back then:

He fills out a withdrawal slip, stands in line and even subjects himself to being questioned by tellers.  But the only true thing on the slip is the amount he wants. 

Dubbed "the Wrong Slip Bandit" by the FBI, this robber has struck Bank of the West locations in Pico Rivera, Commerce, Downey and South El Monte within the past three months. Authorities want help in finding him before he makes another unauthorized withdrawal. 

"He pretends to be there for bank business," said FBI Special Agent Erik Arbuthnot. 

Arbuthnot said the bandit's only robbed Bank of the West and always uses a savings withdrawal slip. 
 

Because the bandit writes a bogus account number on the slip, tellers have asked him for identification and even an address. Sometimes he has to make his intentions clear to the victims. 
 

After being asked for an ID, the bandit finally showed his hand.

"He said,`You don't understand. You're getting robbed. I have a gun. Give me the money,"' Arbuthnot said. 
 
 

Apparently these guys may be responsible for as many as 25 robberies in Los Angeles County. They were picked up in San Luis Obispo apparently on their way to another bank, officials said.

Here's the mug shots.

Here's the story from the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

San Luis Obispo police said Monday the group of men they arrested last week after one of their cars was traced back to an L.A.-area bank robbery could be responsible for as many as 25 bank robberies in Southern California and neighboring states over the last two years.

SLO detectives were investigating the Nov. 21 takeover-style robbery of the Downey Savings and Loan bank in San Luis Obispo when they received information leading them to a man named Leonard Jones, according to a press release today from San Luis Obispo police. Jones was believed to be the ringleader of a Los Angeles-based group that local police thought might be responsible for the Nov. 21 heist.

Further, the FBI told SLO police that Jones and his group might be behind as many as 25 robberies in Southern California and neighboring states over the last two years. The FBI has christened the group the “"Big Money Bandits,”" because the robbers yell “"Give us the big money,”" during their heists.

SLO police said the methods and descriptions of suspects in the Big Money Bandit robberies are similar to the Downey Savings incident.

FBI's got no apparent name for this guy, so we're taking it upon ourselves to name him "The Mummy Bandit"

Here's the story from correspondent Brian Day:

MONTEBELLO — An armed bank robber with gauze bandages wrapped around his head escaped with about $2,000 after a heist Monday, officials said.
The crime was reported about 1:05 p.m. at the Union Bank of California, 850 N. Wilcox Ave., said Montebello police Lt. Govan Yee.
The robber was described only as a male, possibly black, Yee said. Witnesses did not get a clear view of the man because of the gauze he wore as a mask, he added.
The man displayed a pistol and demanded cash from a teller, said Yee.
There were 4 to 5 customers inside the bank, and about a half-dozen employees, Yee said.
The suspect left through the front door, and was last seen heading northeast from the bank on foot, said Yee.
No injuries were reported.

A Glendora man selling magazines door-to-door in Albuquerque, New Mexico has been arrested in connection with the murder of a prominent member of the city's Korean community.

Travis Rowley, 23, of Glendora was arrested Friday.

There are several stories on the Internet about this slaying. Including the Albuquerque Tribune's coverage.

 Rowley is being held in lieu of $2 million in Bernalillo County on two counts of murder.

Reporter Tania Chatila indicates that the killing on Overlook Ridge Road in Diamond Bar is connected in some way to a home invasion robbery in the 1000 block of Overlook Ridge In Diamond Bar. Tania responded to the scene before Sheriff's homicide detectives, so some details are still sketchy.

Here's Tania's dispatch from the scene: