Suspects in bank robberies still at large
Surveillance footage from the Yuba City U.S. Bank shows the suspect in a robbery on Tuesday. footage from the Yuba City Umpqua Bank shows the suspect in a robbery on Thursday.
The suspects wanted in two Yuba City bank robberies this week are still at large. Though the crimes were similar in commission, police don’t believe they are connected.
Umpqua Bank and U.S. Bank were both robbed this past week, each by a single man who handed a note to a teller demanding money. After receiving cash, they each left in an unknown direction and by unknown means. Neither readily appeared to have been armed.
Gina Swankie, public affairs specialist for the FBI Sacramento Office, said that, generally, local law enforcement notifies the FBI when a bank robbery occurs and a series of bank robberies is not required for FBI involvement. Yuba City Police did not confirm whether or not the FBI was involved in these cases.
Swankie said she could not comment on the policies and procedures financial institutions may have in place and what losses victim banks may have suffered.
The FBI, while continuing to provide assistance to state and local partners investigating bank robberies, focuses its investigative resources on those suspects who post the greatest safety threats to the public, including the most violent and/or the most prolific serial offenders who often cross jurisdictional boundaries.
It even launched a website – bankrobbers.fbi.gov – to enable the public and investigators to draw possible connections between Surveillance robberies across cities and states. The site and app offer a search tool to find and group robbers by location, a national map that plots robbery locations, a chronological list of robberies, electronic wanted posters with details on each robber and crime, and a printable version of each poster containing information on how to contact authorities, according to the FBI website.