As robbery sprees go, Tuesday’s foray up and down the 24/680 moved the needle toward “unusual” for a woman packing a suspected canister of Mace along with an apparent taste for frozen yogurt.
Witnesses reported a white female in a Nike sweatshirt inside the Union Bank branch at 3191 Danville Boulevard in Alamo around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, real estate agents in an office overlooking the bank noting her hurried departure from the area – apparently with a couple of thousand dollars she had just withdrawn from the bank.
Deputy Sheriffs, assisted by the Danville Police Department, immediately launched an investigation. The Crime Lab responded to the location.
During the investigation, 37-year-old Chelsea Michelle Smith of Fairfield, was identified as the suspect. Sheriff’s Office Detectives determined she was in the City of Fairfield and notified the Fairfield Police Department, which detained her.
Detectives later responded to Fairfield and arrested Smith who was then booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on a first degree robbery charge. She was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. Smith has since bailed out.
Smith appears to be linked to two other robbery incidents that occurred at two yogurt stores in Contra Costa yesterday. One was in Pleasant Hill and the other was in Martinez.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with any information on this case is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office Investigation Unit at (925) 313-2600. Tips could be emailed to: tips@so.cccounty.us or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
“Give me a cup of Lactose-Free Icelandic….. and all the money in the register.”
Saw the one in Alamo and was wondering what was going on…… time to stake out all the yogurt stores.
Wow, more crime.
Lets see … Moraga had a shooting Sunday night followed by Walnut Creek with a shooting and today the 24/680 robbery spree.
I hope this is not the new norm.
Yes, it is the new norm, and it will get much worse! (at least until California ends it’s crazy empathy for criminals and starts locking them up again)
Is there such a thing as the Yogurt Defense?
A CoCo FroYo YoYo to be sure.
Yes. Her brain froze. Which prevented her from thinking clearly.
With all the people that saw her (bank customers, nearby employees near the bank, patrolling police officers, etc.) you would think someone (or cameras at a business) would have gotten her license plate number. So she escaped the movie theater, back to her car and no one saw anything?
A plate was observed (as noted by one of the folks who observed it) and reported at the outset. PD working that information as they do.
It was a partial plate, and she’s still at large.
Hmm. Believe they had a full plate. That information, while hugely important to an investigation, isn’t always the lead-pipe cinch to solving the crime one might think as folks often report a car borrowed or stolen or change plates or — don’t use them at all. Anyway, not our call to make, we’re not detectives, we just play one on TV!
“Happened right outside my office and an agent here got part of the plate and car description.” (News24/680 Facebook)
She doesn’t seem like a paper plates, stolen plate, etc. kind of gal, but you never know.
Also, she looks older than mid to late 20s. Could be an unflattering photo. I hope she’s caught.
Ah, we’re arguing at sixes and sevens, as our British pals like to say, BUT: The crimefighting crew who we mentioned and you cite did their civic duty and did supply info relative to the plate but those other factors YOU mention (cameras, other wits, etc.) combined to gin up a full plate and, we believe, pictures of the car involved. We generally don’t like to say that right off the bat cause the – uh, perps – can get – er, hinky – and start covering their tracks. 10-4. Over and out…