Three people, including a bank security guard, were arrested for an armed robbery in front of a Chase bank in Palmdale, federal authorities said Wednesday.
The crime took place in February after 24-year-old Tyjana Grayes, the security guard, learned that a couple would be picking up $200,000 in cash at the bank where she worked.
Grayes then recruited the two other suspects, Jerry Wimbley Jr. and Roman Isaiah Smith, to rob the couple as they walked out of the bank, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said.
The security guard communicated with an unidentified co-conspirator about the whereabouts of the couple who were withdrawing the money. Then the co-conspirator told Wimbley and Smith to be prepared to rob the victims, according to the affidavit.
“As the couple was leaving the bank with the cash, Wimbley and Smith exited their vehicle with semiautomatic handguns, threatened to shoot the victims and stole the money,” the ATF said in a statement.
Following the robbery, Wimbley proceeded to launder the money at a nearby casino until March 8, the ATF alleged.
The three suspects were charged in a seven-count federal indictment by a grand jury.
Grayes made her first court appearance Wednesday afternoon.
The defendants could face life in federal prison if convicted on all counts.
