Jun 28, 2008

Bank robber confesses, police say

Detectives believe man took cash from San Mateo Wells Fargo

By Shaun Bishop / Daily News Staff Writer

A 30-year-old man has admitted to robbing a Wells Fargo bank Thursday morning, San Mateo police said.

Krishneel Chandra, a San Mateo resident, was arrested by detectives Friday morning on suspicion of bank robbery and possession of a controlled substance.

Police said Chandra walked into the Wells Fargo on South Ellsworth Avenue in San Mateo about 10:25 a.m. and passed a teller a note announcing he was robbing the bank.

The frightened bank employee gave an undisclosed amount of cash to Chandra, who took off running on South Ellsworth Avenue, police said. No weapon was seen and no one was injured.

Police canvassed the area for a suspect and came up empty. But they had the bank's surveillance footage, which showed a man about 5 feet 6 inches tall with a mustache, black hair in a ponytail and dark tattoos on both arms.

That night, Sgt. Dave Norris saw a person matching that description about 11:30 p.m. walking on Baldwin Avenue, police said. It turned out to be Chandra, and Norris stopped and interviewed him, but then let him go for reasons police did not disclose.

Detectives then confronted Chandra on Friday morning at his house, where he confessed to the robbery, police said. A search of Chandra's house also turned up "items of evidence linking him to the robbery," about which police did not elaborate.



E-mail Shaun Bishop at sbishop@dailynewsgroup.com.