One Man in Custody in Feb. 4 Orinda Bank Robbery; FBI Hunting for More

One suspect is in custody and a second is under investigation for the Feb. 4 robbery at .

The FBI has taken the lead in the case because of possible links to other bank robberies, Orinda Police Chief said Wednesday, after an Orinda police investigation that went from Orinda to Richmond to San Francisco. Andrew Smith, 51, a transient whose last known address was San Francisco, is in custody in San Francisco and being held on a drug charge.

He is a suspect in the Orinda bank robbery, Jennings confirmed.

FBI agents are looking into Smith's past, public affairs specialist Julianne H. Sohn confirmed Wednesday. If anyone has information bearing on the case, she referred them to the FBI’s main tip line in San Francisco, 415-553-7400.

Two robbers wearing ski-style masks robbed the Brookwood Road bank the afternoon of Feb. 4.

“They intimated they had a handgun in their pockets but didn’t show any guns,” said Jennings.

Police have not disclosed how much money was stolen. The money has not been recovered, Jennings said.

Orinda officer Danny Vargas, before he heard the report of the robbery, observed the getaway vehicle driving at a high rate of speed on Camino Pablo, Jennings said. When he received radio confirmation of the robbery, Vargas pursued the car westbound onto Highway 24 and lost it in traffic. The patrol car continued through the Caldecott Tunnel.

Later that day, East Bay Parks staff discovered the abandoned vehicle on Wilder Road near . Smith was the registered owner of the vehicle, the chief reported.

Police helicopters and canine units searched the wooded areas around Wilder Road on Feb. 4 to no avail. Police believe the thieves had left a second vehicle on Wilder Road to complete their getaway, Jennings said.

Also, evidence developed from the interior of the vehicle led police to produce a picture of the suspect, which Vargas confirmed as the man he saw in the getaway vehicle.

A flier with that picture was circulated to contacts on the streets of Richmond, where Smith is known, Jennings said. Some people who were questioned said the individual in question was in jail in San Francisco. Smith was arrested there Feb. 8.

The Orinda police record on bank robberies is good, Jennings noted — police have identified suspects in the last four bank robberies, going back to 2009.

The chief credited the alertness of Vargas and good investigative work by Orinda Sgt. Neil Rafanan and Detective Dan Jeffries in preparing a case with charges of bank robbery recommended. That case, originally prepared for the Contra Costa County district attorney’s office, has been turned over to the FBI.

The two robbers are suspected of collaborating on other bank jobs, Jennings said.