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He was the last man standing from the crew of a wealth of bank robbers who say millions of banks in a series of robberies up and down the West Coast.
He is then said to have bombed ATMs in Contra Costa County.
The man, identified as Diego Ananias Arelano Diaz, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery and bank robbery, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
For several months, he was listed in court records only as “John Doo 2.” This is said to be a member of a South American theft group that authorities say robbed in California, Oregon and Washington.
The crew targeted ATMs and banks. According to court documents, they stayed at Airbnb rentals near Target and were armed with construction vests, sledgehammers, blot torches and surgical masks.
The crew interfered with a Wi-Fi-enabled security system, using spray painted on security camera lenses and a car rental protected by the black market. They conducted robberies between May and October 2024, according to federal prosecutors at the U.S. Lawyer’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
The crew stole more than $4 million in cash, prosecutors say.
The Federal Jury indicted 11 defendants on October 31 on charges of bank robbery and conspiracy to commit bank robbery. All the accused were named except for Arelano Diaz. He was listed as “John Doe 2” in another complaint.
Many of the appointed defendants were arrested in California, Florida and Chile, and their equipment was seized at Airbnb in Welchis, Oregon, and the FBI said they were being used as operational bases for their crew.
The agent recovered toolboxes and other equipment from the rental unit, authorities said.
During reviews of the item on April 29th, FBI agents pulled out clothing that could test their DNA. The agent also found a GoPro camcorder with a memory card inside.
After securing a warrant to search the camera’s memory card in early May, FBI agents discovered several video files, including Camilo Guzman Sepulveda, one of the nominated defendants in the case. The agent also found an image of Arerano Diaz.
The photo was subjected to facial recognition analysis and the following day, according to court documents, coincided with Arerano Diaz.
His name was added to the arrest warrant, but it remained sealed while he was still large.
Arelano Diaz, who used the name Fabio Hernandez, was initially arrested in Los Angeles County in February and charged with assaulting a firefighter or police officer with a deadly weapon, according to prosecutors. He was released on a $75,000 guaranteed bond, and then he disappeared.
On July 20, police in San Ramon in Bay Area City identified Arerano Diaz as the man suspected of blowing up an ATM at a local target store.
He was arrested Tuesday in Newport Beach, authorities said.
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