Skip to main content

Bicycling bank robbery suspect caught, California police say

By Gabriel Falcon, CNN
Police in Santa Cruz, California, released this photograph of one of the bank robberies.
Police in Santa Cruz, California, released this photograph of one of the bank robberies.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Bike-riding bandit has hit several banks in northern California
  • Two robberies occurred about an hour apart; robber pedaled off from both
  • After second heist, dye pack exploded as suspect rode past police officer

(CNN) -- A suspect in a series of bank robberies in which the thief pedaled off on a bicycle has been apprehended, California authorities said Thursday.

Hubert Rotteveel, 47, of Dixon, California, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after two banks in the Woodland, California, area were robbed in just over an hour, Sgt. Anthony Cucchi of the Woodland Police Department said.

The robber pedaled up to the River City Bank in Woodland shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Wearing black clothing, sunglasses and a white bicycle helmet, he held tellers at gunpoint and demanded money before fleeing on a bike, authorities said.

At approximately 3 p.m., the First Northern Bank in West Sacramento was robbed by a bike-riding bandit.

"As he's fleeing that bank on his bicycle," Cucchi said, "he passes a police officer from West Sacramento and the dye pack (in the stolen money) in his bag explodes in front of the officer.

"He tries a quick getaway and the officer gets right on him and apprehends him," Cucchi said.

Rotteveel was being held at the Yolo County jail, with bail set at $200,000, authorities said.

Authorities believe the suspect may be linked to several armed bank robberies in northern California, including one in Santa Cruz on Monday afternoon.