Security guard among those arrested for armed robbery outside Palmdale bank

Three people, including a bank security guard, have been arrested in connection with an armed robbery outside a Chase bank in Palmdale, federal authorities said Wednesday.

The crime occurred in February after 24-year-old Tyjana Grayes, the security guard, heard that a couple was going to collect $200,000 in cash from the bank where she worked.

Grayes then recruited the two other suspects, Jerry Wimbley Jr. and Roman Isaiah Smith, to rob the couple as they walked out of the bank, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The security guard communicated with an unknown co-conspirator regarding the whereabouts of the couple who withdrew the money. The co-conspirator then told Wimbley and Smith to be prepared to rob the victims, the affidavit said.

“As the couple left the bank with the money, Wimbley and Smith exited their vehicle with semiautomatic handguns, threatened to shoot the victims and steal the money,” the ATF said in a statement.

After the robbery, Wimbley continued to launder the money at a nearby casino until March 8, the ATF alleged.

The three suspects were indicted by a grand jury in a seven-count federal indictment.

Grayes made her first court appearance Wednesday afternoon.

The defendants could face life in federal prison if convicted on all counts.