The Antelope Valley branch of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office is filing a pair of robbery charges against a Palmdale man who was named as a suspect in a pair of incidents.
Palmdale Sheriff’s Station patrol deputies arrested 61-year-old Joseph Bennett after a traffic stop near his home Nov. 27, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release Wednesday evening.
Detectives identified Bennett as the suspect in a 9:30 a.m. Nov. 21 armed robbery outside the Northrup Gruman Credit Union in the 4100 block of Sierra Highway in Palmdale, according to a Nixle alert from the department’s Major Crimes Unit.
The victim described a suspect who matched the description given of a man accused in a June 21 bank robbery of the Acton Bank & Trust, the news release stated.
In the Acton incident, a man wearing an N-95 mask walked into the California Bank & Trust branch at 31924 Crown Valley Road shortly after 10:30 a.m., according to Sgt. Matthew Pereida of the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station.
The initial report was that he was carrying a gun; a statement Wednesday announcing Bennett’s arrest intimated that the gun was “simulated.”
After convincing the teller he had a firearm, he demanded that the employee fill a bag with money, according to the LASD. “Fearing the suspect was armed with a firearm, the teller complied with the suspect’s demands. The suspect fled the bank with several hundred dollars in stolen U.S. currency.”
In the Nov. 21 incident, when the victim refused to hand over her purse, the suspect physically assaulted her with his fists, according to the LASD news release. The victim was able to get into her car and flee.
Detectives said witness testimony helped them match the white pickup truck Bennett allegedly left the attempted robbery to the one used in the alleged incident at the bank, with the help of a partial-plate description.
“A search of the vehicle and a nearby residence he was believed to be staying at revealed evidence believed to be used during both robberies,” according to the statement from the department.
On Tuesday, detectives presented their case, which was described as a collaboration with the Los Angeles field office of the FBI.
Charges were brought forth in county court for both incidents, according to officials.
Bennett remains in custody at Men’s Central Jail in Downtown Los Angeles in lieu of $250,000 bail.
He’s due back Jan. 3 at the Michael D. Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster.
Anyone who has witnessed either incident or may have information regarding this case can contact the Major Crimes Bureau, Metro Detail at 562-946-7037, or report anonymously, by calling Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477, or online at www.p3tips.com.
