San Rafael police arrested a Petaluma man Tuesday on suspicion of participating in the robbery of a bank where he worked as a teller, police said.
Javier Corona-Leyva, 19, was arrested at his Petaluma apartment and booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of felony robbery, burglary, embezzlement of more than $400, grand theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy.
The alleged bank robber, Cedric Ray Vincent, 21, of San Rafael, was arrested in downtown San Rafael on Saturday morning for the robbery of the Westamerica Bank at 1 Mitchell Blvd. in San Rafael around 9:40 a.m. Friday. His arraignment was scheduled for this morning.
Police were conducting an alcoholic beverage sting Saturday morning when a police decoy saw what she believed was a drug deal involving three people, one of whom resembled the photo of the male bank robber.
Vincent, who was recently released from prison and was on parole for robbery, was in possession of a large amount of currency and he agreed to be questioned at the San Rafael Police Department, police said.
During the questioning, bait money taken from the robbery was found in Vincent's pockets, according to police.
San Rafael police detectives Scott Ingels and Alex Holm searched Vincent's cellphone over the weekend and they recognized Corona-Leyva as someone police had previously contacted. The detectives wondered if it was a coincidence that Corona-Leyva was the target of the bank robbery, police said.
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The detectives used contact information Corona-Leyva provided at the time of the robbery to search Vincent's phone call logs and they determined Corona-Leyva had communicated wth Vincent more than once within 48 hours of the bank robbery, police said.
One message on Friday indicated both men were communicating about the robbery that was to occur that day.
Corona-Leyva was arrested at his Petaluma apartment at 5:14 p.m. Tuesday.
