Suspect in Bank Heist Offers No New Clues

Former Newbury Park High School soccer star Tabetha Garibay offered no clues Tuesday as to why she and her boyfriend are suspected of robbing a Westlake Village bank.

Holding a portable phone while fielding calls and inquiries from friends and the media, the 20-year-old Garibay stood in the doorway of her father’s Newbury Park home Tuesday morning to say she would not comment on the case.

Garibay’s family used the deed on property they owned as collateral to post the $25,000 bond to get her out of Ventura County Jail late Monday night, her lawyer Shawn Perez said Tuesday.

Garibay and boyfriend Todd Hoult, 23, are scheduled to be arraigned March 13 in a Los Angeles federal court in the robbery of Coast Federal Bank in Westlake Village on Dec. 14.

The pair deny any part in the robbery, attorney Perez said.

Hoult, a former championship high school wrestler and Moorpark College student, is alleged to have robbed the bank at gunpoint. Garibay, a former standout soccer player in high school and at Pepperdine University, allegedly drove the getaway car, a gold 1984 Corvette, federal prosecutors said.

A gold Corvette was parked in front of the Garibay home Tuesday, but Gary Auer, the agent in charge of the FBI’s Ventura office, would not comment on whether the agency believes that is the same car that was used in the heist.

If convicted of the federal bank robbery charges, Garibay and Hoult face up to 20 years in prison--Hoult could spend up to 25 years behind bars.

Hoult remains in Ventura County Jail, a jail spokesman said. He is scheduled to be transferred to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center where he will await the arraignment scheduled for next week, the spokesman said.