Five suspects have been taken into custody in connection with a botched robbery attempt last month in which a California community bank teller was fatally shot.
The incident prompted six of the state's largest financial institutions to contribute to a $135,000 reward offer, believed to be the biggest ever in a fatal robbery case.
Two 17-year-olds turned themselves in to police Sept. 7 after police bulletins named them as suspects in the Aug. 22 attempted robbery of Chino Valley Bank's Pomona branch and the fatal shooting of teller Teresa Ann Hernandez. A third suspect, a man in his 20s, surrendered Sept. 5, while a married couple was charged Sept. 3 with plotting the robbery.
A man suspected of driving the getaway car was found dead by police Aug. 31, an apparent suicide. There are no other suspects in the case.
Police say three suspects entered the branch and, after shooting at a security guard, demanded money. Ms. Hernandez allegedly was shot in the chest as she fumbled for the keys to the money drawer. The three then fled the scene in a getaway car, without the cash, according to police.
The shooting death of Ms. Hernandez, the first of an employee during a bank robbery in southern California in more than a decade, prompted outrage in the state's banking community.
Six of California's largest financial institutions, led by BankAmerica Corp., joined with $810-million-asset Chino Valley to offer the $135,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.
The reward offer was coordinated by the California Bankers Association. The other companies involved are H.F. Ahmanson & Co., Bank of California, First Interstate Bancorp, Union Bank, and Wells Fargo & Co.
Pomona police officials said two pieces of "crucial" information from phoned-in tips led to the arrests.
The banks have also donated $25,000 to help Ms. Fernandez's family.
"We are deeply saddened and outraged, and so are the people of Pomona," said D. Linn Wiley, president and chief executive of Chino Valley. "It's the worst thing that's happened in my 31 years in the business."
