NORTH COAST, Calif. – Authorities have taken one suspect into custody and are searching for the second individual wanted in connection to a bank robbery and the shooting of an armored car guard that took place early Tuesday afternoon in Windsor.
Sgt. Cecile Focha of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said that at 1:50 p.m. Tuesday a 911 call came into the agency's dispatch center reporting that the Chase Bank in the town of Windsor had been robbed by masked gunmen.
Another person called and said the guard from the armored car company had been shot, and a dark-colored SUV was seen speeding away, Focha said.
Deputies arrived within two minutes. They found one adult male, an armored car employee, who had suffered a gunshot wound, according to Focha's report.
Focha said the deputies quickly learned that a car came toward the armored truck when it stopped at the bank. Two men got out of it, confronted the guards and started shooting, and then fled with an undetermined amount of money. They then got into another car and made their getaway.
“We immediately contacted neighboring law enforcement agencies to ‘Be On The Lookout’ for the car containing the armed and dangerous suspects. We issued an alert to the residents of Windsor to avoid the area of the Lakewood Shopping Center and locked-down the businesses,” Focha said in the report.
As people learned of the crime, the sheriff's office received many tips from people in the area, Focha said. Detectives from the agency's Violent Crimes, CSI, Narcotics, Property Crimes and other investigations units responded and began interviewing witnesses and processing evidence.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation also came to the scene, as is protocol in bank robberies, Focha said.
Meanwhile, Focha said an observant officer from the Calistoga Police Department saw a car that matched the description containing the men who robbed the bank.
After a pursuit one of the men was in custody and another remained at large early Tuesday evening. Focha's report, issued shortly before 7 p.m., said at that point that a manhunt was under way in the Calistoga area for the outstanding armed and dangerous individual.
“We cannot comment on the details regarding an activity in Napa County. We do have members of our SWAT team and other resources dedicated to that scene to assist their agencies,” Focha said.
Separately, the Napa County Sheriff's Office reported that it was involved in the manhunt in the area of Highway 128 and Petrified Forest Road near Calistoga.
Napa officials said they were looking for a Hispanic male adult who is 5 feet, 11 inches tall, with long dark hair and wearing a black shirt. Any witnesses with information about his whereabouts were asked to call the Napa County Sheriff's Investigations Unit at 707-253-4591.
Focha said the case is open and continuing to unfold, adding that detectives are hard at work piecing together the evidence at the scene and interviewing countless witnesses.
No photos of the two men are available, Focha said, adding that it was reported that the men were armed with long guns. Whether not this meant a shotgun or rifle is not known as of yet.
Focha said authorities are not releasing information about the caliber or type of weapon at this time.
The armored car guard was conscious when he was rushed to the hospital. There is no information about his current medical status, Focha said.
She said the agency appreciates the public’s patience and understanding as serious crimes and scenes of this magnitude take considerable personnel many hours to complete. “We cannot release details that might interfere with the investigation of the case.”
Anyone with information pertaining to this case is asked to call the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Investigations Tip Line at 707-565- 2185 or submit information on the Silent Witness form on our Web site, http://www.sonomasheriff.org/silent-witness/ . Those with information can remain anonymous if they wish, Focha said.