Yuba City bank suspects linked to more heists?
Yuba City police working with other agencies
Two men arrested in connection with a Bank of America branch robbery in Yuba City may have been involved in other Northern California bank robberies, police said Thursday.
George Saman Emseih, 20, of Fairfield, and Aaron Christopher Watts, 21, of Oakland, were awaiting arraignment Thursday in Sutter County Jail, where they were being held without bail.
Emseih and Watts allegedly robbed the bank at 1100 Butte House Road at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Both were captured within the hour.
"We are actively pursuing the possibility that these subjects were involved in other north state bank robberies," said Yuba City police Commander Jeremy Garcia. "We are currently working with several other law enforcement agencies as well as the FBI to pursue the possibility."
Detectives are working with police in Dixon, where another Bank of America branch was robbed July 13, Garcia said.
The FBI's Sacramento spokesman, Steve Dupre, confirmed his agency is assisting local authorities but did not comment on specifics.
On a jail booking sheet, Emseih's occupation was listed as reserve firefighter with the American Canyon Fire Department in Solano County.
Emseih's name appears in a year-old posting on the American Canyon Fire Protection District's Web site. District officials did not immediately return calls.
Garcia did not comment on the duo's actions inside the bank but confirmed a gun was displayed during the robbery.
Emseih and Watts are scheduled to be arraigned at 3 p.m. today in Sutter County Superior Court.
After leaving the bank, the pair fled west on Butte House Road in a black BMW, then west on Highway 20, where a Sutter County Sheriff's Department deputy stopped the car at Acacia Avenue and arrested Emseih.
Watts stayed in the car and fled west at high speed toward Colusa, with a California Highway Patrol helicopter keeping track of his movements. About 10 miles north of Colusa, he was stopped and arrested by a Colusa County Sheriff's Department deputy and a city of Colusa police officer.
