A 36-year-old man was arrested as a suspect in an armed robbery at a Chase bank in Fontana amid a series of recent bank robberies throughout the Inland Empire, police announced Thursday.
The robbery happened around 12:15 p.m. Dec. 2, when an armed man wearing a disguise walked into the Chase bank on the 16100 block of Foothill Boulevard and gave the teller a ransom note.
The note demanded money and threatened violence if the teller did not comply, according to the Fontana Police Department.
The robber then brandished the handle of a firearm and the teller gave him a large sum of money.
He then left the bank and got into a getaway vehicle, which police later found nearby. The same vehicle had been reported stolen earlier in the day, according to police.
Fontana police identified the suspect as Charles Metzermacher of San Bernardino.
“Charles is a career criminal, a documented gang member, and is currently on PRCS/Probation for GTA,” the department said in a news release.
While local detectives were still investigating, the FBI contacted Fontana police to let them know that Metzermacher is just one of multiple people suspected in a series of Chase bank robberies that happened throughout the Inland Empire in the past few months.
On Thursday, police and the FBI executed multiple search warrants in San Bernardino in connection with the Chase bank robberies.
That’s when they found Metzermacher at one of the locations and took him into custody without incident.
Investigators also ended up finding multiple firearms and evidence of the robberies.
Several other people were arrested for various charges, felonies and outstanding warrants, police said.
While Fontana police found the suspect in the Chase Bank robbery at the city, the FBI and several other agencies are still working on several other robbery cases.
