Santa Barbara police caught an alleged bank robber this week with the arrest of a 25-year-old Santa Barbara resident.
Jesse Blake Rogers was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on Tuesday and charged with carrying out the Jan. 4 afternoon robbery of the Santa Barbara Teachers Federal Credit Union in the 3900 block of La Colina Road, according to Sgt. Riley Harwood.
His bail was set at $100,000 — the same dollar amount attached to the felony arrest warrant police issued for Rogers in a Jan. 6 “Catch a Bank Robber” media release.
Police allege Rogers walked into the credit union located near Bishop Diego High School around 1 p.m. earlier this month, making away with an undisclosed amount of cash.
No weapon was seen, Lt. Kenneth Kushner said, but the suspect was described as a white male of tall and thin build.
Santa Barbara police detectives apprehended Rogers this week after investigative information indicated he might be in the vicinity of Milpas Street, Harwood said.
Rogers was found sitting inside a parked vehicle in the zero block of South Milpas Street at 5:30 p.m., where he was taken into custody.
Harwood said he couldn’t release details of how police narrowed down the robbery suspects to include Rogers or exactly how they learned where he would be Tuesday.
“There’s always the possibility … that there could be other related cases,” he told Noozhawk.
“We want to make sure anything we release at this point doesn’t jeopardize the District Attorney’s case.”
This isn’t Rogers first run-in with local law enforcement.
Harwood confirmed Rogers was the same man who allegedly passed out from a drug overdose and then crashed his vehicle into a house on the Mesa Sept. 27, 2012.
Police said the then 22-year-old used heroin before becoming unconscious and crashing into a home in the 600 block of Aurora Avenue.
After he was treated for injuries, Rogers was booked into the County Jail on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, transportation of heroin, transportation of methamphetamine, and possession of marijuana, Harwood said, adding that drug paraphernalia was found in the vehicle.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.