Westamerica Bank in Strawberry Robbed – Suspect Tied to Trio of North Bay Robberies

The string of robberies at Westamerica Bank branches in Marin continued Wednesday as the Westamerica in Strawberry Vilage was robbed of an undisclosed amount of money, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office.

At 3:17 p.m., a man walked into the branch at 1222 Redwood Hwy., handed a teller a note demanding money, received an undisclosed amount of money from the teller and walked out without incident, Sheriff's Lt. Jamie Scardina said. 

No one was injured during the brief sequence, and bank employees did not see a weapon on the suspect, he added.

The suspect was last seen getting into a mid 2000s tan Honda heading south on Redwood Highway, Scardina said. He is described as a white man in his late 20s with a large build and sporting facial hair below his bottom lip. He was wearing a black sweatshirt, tan shorts, a red and black San Francisco 49ers hat and sunglasses.

The image at right is from the Westamerica Bank surveillance camera.

Scardina said the suspect appears to be the same man associated with banks robbed in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, and Novato

This is the fourth time a Westamerica Bank branch has been robbed in 2013.

On Jan. 4, a,  and fled on foot after receiving cash, according to San Rafael Police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher. No weapon was seen or mentioned in that incident.

Less than a week later on Jan. 10, the Westamerica branch in Novato's Ignacio area was robbed of an undisclosed amount of money and the suspect fled on foot. No one was hurt and no weapon was used, Novato police Lt. Jennifer Welch said at the time.

And on Jan. 25, a man walked in to the Westamerica Bank at 1 Mitchell Blvd. in North San Rafael, demanded money from the bank teller and then fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to San Rafael Police Sgt. Roy Leon.

Scardina said he was unable to directly associate the suspect with the robberies of Westamerica branches in San Rafael at this time as he hadn't yet seen surveillance images from those incidents.

Anyone wishing to give crime tips can call the Sheriff’s Office at 415-479-2311. To remain anonymous and possibly become eligible for a cash reward call Bay Area Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.

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