Man sought in armored car robberies is arrested in Rancho Cucamonga

A Los Angeles man was arrested this week on suspicion of helping to steal more than $550,000 during five armoredcar robberies last year in Hawthorne, Inglewood and South Los Angeles.

James Russell Davis, 34, was arrested Wednesday in Rancho Cucamonga by the FBI after he was charged in a federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, according to Donald Alway, the assistant director of the FBI’S Los Angeles Field Office.

A second suspect, Deneyvous Hobson, 36, of Los Angeles was arrested Feb. 21 and is in federal custody in Los Angeles.

Authorities believe there are at least five other fugitives connected to the robberies, though they have not been identified.

The group is accused of targeting drive-thru ATMS, checkcashing locations and other businesses. The robberies followed a pattern: Armored-car drivers were zip-tied and held at gunpoint while at least one person entered the vehicle and took the money.

Investigators believe the group met and planned the robberies from a home in the 2900 block of Chesapeake Avenue in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, so they gave it the moniker Chesapeake Bandits.

Multiple firearms were used in the five robberies — including a sawed-off Ar-15-type firearm with a scope. A shot was fired by a robber on one occasion but no injury was reported.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case. Brinks, one of the victimized armored-vehicle companies, is matching that. The agency did not disclose how it found Davis.

The FBI asked that anyone with information about the case contact agents at 800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or at tips.fbi.gov.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FBI Images from surveillance footage show three people during an armed robbery at a Bank of America branch in Hawthorne on June 9.