Unhoused man arrested after attempted San Jose bank robbery
By Carlos E. Castañeda
A man who attempted to rob a bank in San Jose earlier this month was arrested after investigators used automated license plate reader cameras to locate the suspect vehicle, police said.
The attempted robbery happened on Feb. 3 at a bank on Meridian Avenue between Foxworthy and Hillsdale avenues in the city’s Cambrian neighborhood at about 1:15 p.m. The San Jose Police Department said in a press release that a report came in of a man who entered the bank and handed a handwritten note to an employee demanding money. Police said the man fled the bank without taking any money before officers arrived.
Minutes after witnesses provided officers with a suspect and vehicle description, patrol officers and the department’s Real Time Intelligence Center (RTIC) identified the suspect vehicle and began broadcasting updates on its location using the city’s public safety camera network and automated license plate reader system, police said.
A registration check on the vehicle identified the registered owner as 41-year-old Ryan Gress, an unhoused San Jose resident who matched the description provided by witnesses, police said. Officers located the vehicle at about 2:19 p.m. in the area of Great Oaks Boulevard and San Ignacio Avenue in the Santa Teresa neighborhood of South San Jose.
Police said Gress was taken into custody and officers found evidence implicating him in the crime. He was booked into the Santa Clara County Mail Jail on a charge of attempted robbery.
“What may have taken hours only took a matter of minutes thanks to our Real Time Intelligence Center,” Police Chief Paul Joseph said in a prepared statement. “The quick identification and apprehension of a suspect is critical to ensure there are no further threats to the community and no more innocent people being victimized.”
Anyone with any information about the incident was asked to contact Detective Leonard #4913 of the Police Department’s robbery unit at 4913@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4166.
