Alleged Santa Monica bank robber arrested

A woman suspected of robbing a bank in Santa Monica last month has been arrested.

Yolanda Denise Caldwell, 52, of Los Angeles was taken into custody by the Santa Monica Police Department on Wednesday.

Caldwell was identified as the suspect in a Sept. 22 bank robbery that happened at First Citizens Bank on the 1600 block of Montana Avenue.

According to the Santa Monica Police Department, the suspect in the robbery entered the bank, pointed a firearm at employees and demanded cash. Two bank tellers complied, fearing for their lives, and handed over an undisclosed amount of cash to the suspect, who then fled in a black BMW SUV.

Images of the suspect and her vehicle were shared on social media by the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, with a call for anyone with information to come forward.

“Using information gleaned from multiple sources, detectives from the SMPD were able to identify the suspect and obtain a warrant for her arrest,” the Police Department said in a news release Friday.

Police did not say how Caldwell was ultimately identified as the suspect, but she was arrested Wednesday in Redondo Beach.

She was booked into the Santa Monica Jail to await charges for robbery, but has since been moved to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, jail records show.

Her bail has been set at $100,000 and she was expected to appear in court Friday.

Anyone with additional information in this case is urged to contact Detective George Burciaga or Sergeant Ryan Gradle. Anonymous tips can be submitted online or by calling 800-222-8477.