Boy, 15, Charged in Armed Bank Robbery in Lancaster

A 15-year-old boy was charged on Thursday for his alleged role in a takeover-style armed robbery of a Lancaster bank and faces a possible life sentence, prosecutors said.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged the boy with 10 counts of kidnapping for purposes of robbery and 10 counts of robbery in the July 18 incident, in which three robbers forced employees and a customer of Sun Country Bank into a vault and made off with $39,000 in cash.

Because two of the three robbers were wielding pistols, the charges all carry a special circumstance of armed robbery, authorities said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James Bozajian said he is seeking to have the boy tried as an adult. If he is found guilty in such a trial, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

The boy, whose name was not released, is being held without bail at a juvenile detention facility and is to be arraigned today in Sylmar Juvenile Court.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Dorsey said the boy is a member of the Bloods street gang and was “a very willing and active participant [in the robbery] who was trying to move up in the gang hierarchy.”

Authorities are still searching for the other two suspects, both of whom are members of the Bloods, Dorsey said. One was identified as 19-year-old Vernon Jackson, who is thought to be in Los Angeles. The identity of the third suspect was not released.

According to deputies and witnesses, the three robbers burst into the Sun Country Bank and ordered nine employees and the one customer into the bank vault and forced tellers to stuff cash into two backpacks.

The boy was arrested on Wednesday after deputies served a warrant at his Lancaster home.

Dorsey said he wasn’t surprised by the boy’s age. “A lot of gangs use juveniles for major crimes because they don’t get as harsh treatment as adults when it comes to court proceedings,” he said.

Although bank robbery is usually prosecuted as a federal crime, juveniles are often charged under the robbery laws of the state, which is better equipped to handle cases involving minors, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Lancaster sheriff’s station at (661) 940-3835.