Man arrested after robbing 3 banks in one day in Temecula, Murrieta – Press Enterprise

A 62-year-old man was arrested Tuesday, June 4, after investigators linked the suspect to a robbery in Temecula and two other robberies that day in Murrieta, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department announced Wednesday.

On Tuesday, around 11:51 a.m., officers responded to a panic alarm at a bank located at 40400 Margarita Road in Temecula, according to a sheriff's news release.

The release said bank employees reported that a man last seen wearing a blue shirt and baseball cap and carrying an orange bag had robbed the bank.

The thief handed a note to the bank teller demanding money. The cashier handed an undisclosed amount to the suspect, who fled the scene before police arrived.

Deputies were informed Tuesday of two additional bank robberies that occurred in Murrieta. The same method was used and the description of the suspect was the same in all the robberies.

These thefts were reported around 12:19 p.m. in the 40000 block of California Oaks Road and at 12:58 p.m. in the 25000 block of Hancock Avenue. Murrieta police said in a statement that during the first robbery in that city, the suspect brandished a firearm in his waistband. Murrieta's second robbery was also described as an armed robbery.

Murrieta Police then located the suspect's vehicle in the 35000 block of Crickhowell Avenue in Murrieta.

Murrieta officers conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle and arrested the driver, Sonny Tho Leu, 62, of Murrieta.

Leu was identified as the suspect responsible for the three bank robberies, and authorities found “several items of probative value” linking Leu to the three robberies during a search of Leu's residence and vehicle, the statement said. sheriff.

Leu was booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center on suspicion of theft and making terroristic threats, according to Riverside County jail records.

Anyone with additional information about the thefts can contact Sgt. J. Hephner of the Southwest Station RBST at (951) 304-5087.