Nov 14, 2008 12:14 am US/Pacific
3 SJ Men Busted In 'Ocean's Eleven' Inspired Heist
SAN JOSE (CBS 5) ―
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Brian DeGuzman, Allen Vu and Armando Mendez.
CBS
Three San Jose men who spent months planning a Hollywood movie-style bank robbery were arrested less than a day after they stole more than $100,000 from a Wells Fargo branch, police said Thursday.
The suspected robbers, two of them employees of the bank branch including its manager, told police that they hatched the scheme after watching "Ocean's Eleven" starring George Clooney, according to a report by the San Jose Mercury News.
But unlike the movie, in which Clooney and his mob managed to steal a safe with millions of dollars from a Las Vegas casino, the three men tried to take money directly from the bank safe in a fake robbery.
Brian Deguzman and Allen Vu, both 25, and Armando Mendez, 22, were arrested Wednesday evening on charges of conspiring to commit burglary and conspiracy to commit grand theft, police said.
Police alleged that Vu met Mendez, an employee of the Well Fargo branch, outside the Safeway grocery store at 3202 Story Road on Wednesday morning and simulated a robbery, then walked Mendez inside the bank and demanded Mendez and Deguzman, who is the branch's manager, to open the safe.
Vu, who wore a baseball cap and sunglasses, allegedly put the cash in a paper bag and walked away before detectives from San Jose Police Department's Robbery Unit arrived at the bank.
When investigating into the case, detectives learned from Well Fargo officials that Deguzman had ordered a large amount of extra cash for the branch, which was highly unusual for this time of the year.
"When you have a branch manager that conspires, that's pretty huge," said Rick Martinez, head of the robbery unit. "We haven't had that in 10 to 15 years, where the bank manager was involved in the robbery."
Police said there are more than 1,100 robberies taking place in the San Jose area each year, and in most bank robberies suspects make off with just a few thousand dollars.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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