Bank Robber Tips $200, Takes Cabbie for a Ride

Chris Lucero’s eyes bulged when the female passenger handed him a $200 tip, enough money for the struggling taxi driver to buy Christmas presents for his seven children.

But he also thought that there was something strange about this woman, whom he picked up in Fontana on Friday, waited for as she entered a La Verne bank, then dropped off in Pomona. After all, she had crouched down in the back seat after they pulled away from the bank, changed her clothes and left behind a red wig.

Lucero called his dispatcher at Yellow Cab of Pomona, who called the La Verne Police Department. Coincidentally, officers were investigating a robbery by a female suspect at Citibank on Foothill Boulevard, the same bank Lucero’s unusually generous passenger had visited.

“We put the two together,” said La Verne Police Lt. Ken Swank. “We’re just lucky we had an honest cabbie.”

The woman, who was believed to have made off with $3,000, was at large Saturday, as detectives combed the southeast Pomona neighborhood where she was last seen.

Meanwhile, Lucero, 29, was back at work, pausing to talk for just a few moments before hustling after another fare.

“Nobody pays $250 for a $50 cab ride, so I knew something was wrong,” he said. “I just didn’t know they were going to take the money away from me.”