VENTURA : Jury Indicts Woman in Bank Robbery
A woman suspected of robbing a Bank of America branch in Ventura last month was indicted Friday on federal armed bank robbery charges, FBI officials said.
Shonte Lynn McKinzie, 18, formerly of Aurora, Colo., was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. The indictment charges McKinzie with masterminding the crime.
If convicted, McKinzie faces a maximum 25 years in federal custody, FBI officials said.
McKinzie is one of three people suspected of entering the bank branch on Main Street, holding about 20 people at gunpoint and then escaping with an undisclosed amount of money.
After leaving the bank, the suspects drove to Fillmore, where they abandoned their car and fled on foot, authorities said. They were arrested after one of them, Curtis Smith, 37, of Los Angeles, was struck by a tractor-trailer rig while attempting to run across California 126.
Gary Auer, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Ventura office, said Smith has been transferred from the Ventura County Medical Center to a Los Angeles hospital for further surgery and is still in serious condition. Auer said Smith will be indicted as soon as he is well enough to be brought before a judge.
The third suspect, a 15-year-old, is being prosecuted by the Ventura County district attorney’s office. The youth will appear for a hearing in Ventura County Superior Court next week, Auer said.
McKinzie is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Monday in Los Angeles federal court.
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