CARLSBAD : Transient Arrested in Bank Robbery
An unemployed North County transient was arrested Friday by Carlsbad police shortly after the robbery of the Home Federal Bank branch across from Plaza Camino Real Shopping Center in Carlsbad, authorities reported.
Donald Eugene Smith, 33, was being held without bail at the federal Metropolitan Correction Center in downtown San Diego after being turned over to FBI agents who are part of the San Diego Bank Robbery Task Force. Authorities said Smith will be arraigned before a federal magistrate next week on one count of armed bank robbery, which is a federal offense.
FBI special agent William J. Esposito said that the robbery occurred about 9 a.m. Friday. Bank employees alerted Carlsbad police while the suspect, wearing a bandanna and armed with a handgun, robbed several tellers. There were no injuries.
The FBI said Smith is a possible suspect in several bank robberies in the Los Angeles area.
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