Central coast bank robber favors orthodox scullcap

 

Bank surveillance video records the suspect responsible for a May 27 robbery.

SANTA BARBARA – Authorities believe they’ve nabbed the Yarmulke-wearing individual responsible for a series of bank robberies along the central coast, despite a slight discrepancy in the age of the man arrested and descriptions of the suspect.

Raymond Davenport, 52, was arrested Thursday in connection with the May 27 robbery of a Santa Barbara Bank & Trust in Goleta. Davenport is also suspected of no less than three similar bank robberies occurring in recent months in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

According to Drew Sugars, spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, Davenport’s latest caper took place around 10 a.m. at the Hollister Avenue branch of the local Bank & Trust when he “entered the bank, threatened a teller by warning her he had a gun and demanded money.”

Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the bank following the robbery. Witnesses reported that cash was given to the suspect who left on foot and walked toward an assisted living facility next door.

Deputies and detectives conducted a search of the area, but failed to find anyone matching witness descriptions of the suspect as a white male between the ages of 20 and 40, wearing a dark blue suit and a skull cap identified as a yarmulke, a traditional Jewish head covering intended to convey fealty to God.

Raymond Davenport

Bank surveillance video images were retrieved and distributed to area media outlets on May 27. Following additional witness interviews, and with San Mateo and Santa Clara arrest warrants identifying Davenport, detectives contacted him at his residence on June 1 and arrested him without incident. Davenport was booked into Santa Barbara County jail on charges of armed robbery and is currently held on $100,000 bail.

The discrepancy in witnesses’ descriptions of a bank robbery suspect at least 12 years younger than Davenport has not yet been addressed.

Central coast bank robber favors orthodox scullcap was last modified: January 10th, 2019 by admin

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