A man in blackface and wearing a beanie who was caught on surveillance video trying to rob a Corona bank in August was arrested in his Lake Elsinore home Wednesday, Riverside County sheriff’s officials said Thursday.
Investigators gathered enough evidence to serve a search warrant Wednesday at the Lake Elsinore home of Jerrad Schmittle, 40, according to a sheriff’s press release. Schmittle was subsequently arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery.
On the afternoon of Aug. 18, deputies from the Lake Elsinore sheriff’s station were called to the Wells Fargo Bank in the 11000 block of De Palma Road in Corona after a silent alarm was triggered, according to the statement.
Investigators learned a white man, “with obvious dark make-up to disguise his appearance,” had given a teller a note that demanded money, officials said. The man also told the teller he had a gun.
After waiting for a few seconds, the man, later identified as Schmittle, ran off without getting any money, sheriff’s officials said.
The man’s identity remained unknown until Nov. 1, when new leads led investigators to Schmittle’s home, according to the sheriff’s statement.
Schmittle was booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center in French Valley.
Authorities ask anyone with information on the case to call the Lake Elsinore sheriff’s station at 951-245-3300.
