A 24-year-old bank security guard has been arrested in connection with an armed robbery that took place outside the Palmdale bank where he worked.
Bank security guard Tyjana Grayes, 24, and two other Antelope Valley residents, Jerry Wimbley Jr., 21, and Roman Isaiah Smith, 24, were arrested for the armed robbery of a couple who were withdrawing $200,000 in cash from a Chase Bank in January.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, all three are charged with conspiracy to disrupt commerce by theft and disrupting commerce by theft, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of and during a crime of violence.
Wimbley is also charged with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, and three counts of money laundering.
When a couple deposited a check for $315,301 into their account at Chase Bank in Palmdale, bank employees told them they had to come back to get the money because the bank didn’t have that much money.
Grayes is said to have been informed of the planned cash withdrawal from a bank employee. He then allegedly told Wimbley and Smith about the pickup so they could rob the victims, prosecutors said.
The pair reportedly waited in the parking lot while Grayes reportedly communicated with them via text messages. When the couple left the bank with the money, Wimbley and Smith exited their vehicle with semiautomatic handguns, threatened to shoot the victims and stole the money, prosecutors allege.
According to the ATF, Wimbley laundered the money at a local casino. He bought about $34,500 in gambling chips and cashed out about $168,700. During five of the visits to the casino, he cashed in approximately $89,700 without purchasing any chips during that visit.
If convicted of all charges, the defendants each face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
