Amador County – The Amador County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that a suspect may be linked to the Dec. 27 robbery of Bank of Stockton in Pine Grove, and further investigation and processing of evidence is under way.
Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan in a release Thursday said the suspect was in custody in San Joaquin County after being arrested for the robbery of another bank, which occurred last week in Lockeford.
Ryan in the release said: At this time, the suspect “has not been arrested or charged in connection with the Bank of Stockton robbery, and he remains in custody at the San Joaquin County Jail with bail set at $250,000.”
Last Thursday, Jan. 13, at about 9:30 a.m., the Bank of the West in Lockeford was robbed. Ryan in the release this week said, the “method used by the suspect in the robbery of the Bank of the West in Lockeford was strikingly similar to the method used by the suspect in the robbery of the Bank of Stockton in Pine Grove, including actions and/or facts withheld by the Amador County Sheriff’s Office to protect the integrity of the investigation.”
“San Joaquin County Sheriff’s detectives investigating the robbery in Lockeford recognized the suspect from video surveillance footage, as a local area resident and ultimately arrested Robert Daniel Mehrten, 52,” the release said. “Amador County Sheriff’s detectives assisted the San Joaquin Sheriff’s detectives in the subsequent execution of a search warrant at Mehrten’s residence,” and Amador detectives also interviewed Mehrten in the San Joaquin Jail.
The release said: “Based upon the totality of the circumstances additional investigation is being conducted which includes but is not limited to, the display of photographic line ups, a cellular telephone records analysis, a financial records analysis, another review of video surveillance, as well as DNA evidence analysis.”
The release said the Pine Grove Bank of Stockton was robbed Dec. 27 “by a white male suspect, carrying a bag, which he said contained explosives,” and the public’s assistance was requested to help identify the “images of the suspect captured on the video surveillance system.”
The release said the Amador County Sheriff’s department received information identifying nine people of interest related to the Pine Grove Bank of Stockton robbery. Detectives interviewed all nine people, “and collected voluntary DNA samples from five of those interviewed.”
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