Dirty Deputy Derailed, Again

John S. Burnett, BOL Associate Editor

The arrest of a former San Joaquin County sheriff's deputy has apparently ended a string of bank robberies that reached from the San Francisco Bay area to Fresno, in California.

A multiagency investigation culminated in the arrest, on the morning of November 9, 2006, of Timothy James Kelly, following a high-speed car chase that ended with Kelly's loss of control and a crash.

Kelly was specifically charged with the October 13, 2006, robbery of a Bank of America branch in Elk Grove, and is the lead suspect in five other area bank hold-ups from May through October, according to the FBI's Sacramento Violent Crimes Task Force.

Kelly served as a sheriff's deputy for ten years through 1994, and was reportedly fired for embezzlement. He was convicted in 1997 of bank robbery, and served over three years in prison.

Kelly's wanted poster photographs were reportedly recognized by former sheriff's department colleagues. The photographs came from the Bank of America security cameras. Kelly is alleged to have given the B of A teller a note reading "Just give me your money. This is not a joke," and to have left the bank with nearly $13,000 in cash.

First published on BankersOnline.com 11/15/06