Bank Heist Suspect Caught in Culvert

A shotgun-toting robber held up a bank Thursday and then fled into the city’s maze-like drainage system before sheriff’s deputies dragged him, slimy and wet, out of a culvert more than half a mile away, authorities said.

No one was hurt and all the stolen money was recovered.

Nicholas Leshaun Adams, 27, remained in Ventura County Jail on Thursday night on suspicion of bank robbery and car theft in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Authorities said Adams burst into the Camarillo Community Bank at 1150 Paseo Camarillo at 9:35 a.m. carrying a sawed off shotgun and ordered everyone to the floor.

An employee in a room off the main lobby heard the commotion and called 911, according to sheriff’s deputies. At the same time, an employee on the phone with a loan officer whispered into the receiver, “bank robbery,” before hanging up the receiver and dropping to the ground.

Both calls reached the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the robber ordered one of the bank customers to hand over car keys. Lugging his black bag full of cash, Adams fled in the stolen vehicle, deputies said.

He careened down Ponderosa Drive into the cul-de-sac of Calle La Palmera about a mile away, according to sheriff’s reports. He leaped from his car into an underground storm drain that leads into the city drainage system.

“It runs through the city like a spider web,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Chuck Buttell said.

The Sheriff’s Department radioed the city for a map of its intricate drainage system and stationed officers at every exit.

In all, 18 units joined in the manhunt--including detectives and police dogs. Two yellow sheriff’s helicopters circled overhead.

“After he crossed the freeway, he popped out at one of the exits where we were waiting for him,” Buttell said. That was just south of Ventura Freeway on Ventura Boulevard near the Park and Ride lot.

Adams emerged carrying neither the cash nor the weapon, authorities said.

Breathless and covered with smelly green slime, the man with the misshapen heart-shaped tattoo on his neck was arrested at 10:05 a.m. When police and dogs searching the nearby culverts found the shotgun and the money stashed inside a drainage ditch at Daily Drive and Las Posas Road, authorities said.

The bank robbery was the first in Camarillo this year, and the seventh in Ventura County, according to Special Agent Kevin Kelly, acting supervisor of the county’s FBI office.

Kelly said Thursday’s heist was notable because it was a takeover robbery.

“He ordered everyone to the floor. I understand he was very vocal,” Kelly said. “He jumped the counter and demanded money from all the tellers. The fact that he used a shotgun, and the manner in which the robbery went down is significant.”

Adams’ last known address was Lancaster. Authorities do not know if he has a prior record, and say they believe he was acting alone.

After the robbery, authorities found the stolen car on the cul-de-sac of Calle La Palmera, cordoned ff the area and began interviewing witnesses.

Alex Valenzuela, 11, said he saw the whole scene unfold from the window of his house.

“He was like in dirty clothes,” said Alex, who raced into his sleeping sister-in-law’s bedroom to tell her what he had seen. “I thought it was a robber.”

“He ran into the sewer with a big black bag that look like the ones you carry baseball bats in,” said his sister-in-law, Angelica Flores.

They cowered in their house, uncertain what to do, until police officers across the street motioned for them to stay low, and come out of the house.

The police then swarmed into their yard and began the search.

“You know what’s weird? We saw a lot of cars in the last few days,” said Flores, noting there is usually little traffic on the cul-de-sac. “But we didn’t really pay attention because we’re so close to the street and the freeway.”

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Jim Albrecht was painting his wall across the street when the stolen car came around the corner, tires squealing. A green BMW was right on its heels, he said.

Albrecht said he was on his way over to tell the driver to slow down, because deaf children live in the neighborhood, when he saw a young black man in a black jacket jump out of the car with a black bag and a shotgun.

“That guy knew exactly where he was going and what he was doing,” he said. “I was afraid he was going to open fire.”

Albrecht said there were four possible ways the suspect could have fled in the ditches from that point. He took the route to the ocean.

Buttell said Thursday’s arrest went smoothly.

“From the time he walked into the bank, to the people on the scene who were willing to call, to the city workers to the California Highway Patrol and the helicopters, it just doesn’t get any better than this,” Buttell said. “It’s one of those things where you look at each other when it’s over and you say, ‘This is the way it is supposed to work.’ ”

A joint investigation with the FBI and the Sheriff’s Department is continuing.

MacGregor is a Times staff writer and Johnson is a correspondent.