Countywide : Man Charged With 5 Bank Robberies
A federal grand jury has indicted a 45-year-old Santa Barbara man in connection with a series of bank robberies in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Bernard Jerome Sumpter was charged Tuesday in Los Angeles with five bank robberies committed last month, said Gary Auer, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Ventura office.
Sumpter is suspected of robbing three banks in Santa Barbara, plus a branch office of Bank of America at 2475 Saviers Road in Oxnard, and a branch office of Southern California Savings at 996 S. Seaward Ave. in Ventura, Auer said. The robberies occurred between July 1 and July 16, Auer said.
“This arrest was particularly important in view of the substantial robberies he was committing in a short time,” Auer said.
An anonymous caller told Oxnard police that Sumpter was responsible for the robberies, and he was arrested July 18 at an Oxnard motel, Auer said.
If convicted, Sumpter faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine for each robbery.
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