Cross-dressing Bank Robber Arrested, Second Suspect Still at Large

VISALIA – Police have arrested one of the men who robbed a bank on Monday while dressed in women’s clothing, but his accomplice is still on the loose.

Visalia Community Bank

Officers with the Visalia Police Department arrested 50-year-old Johnny Huerta on Tuesday around 5:30 p.m. As the Visalia SWAT team prepared to serve a search warrant at Huerta’s home on North Bridge Street at Chavez Avenue, an officer closing traffic on Bridge Avenue saw the suspect walking along the street. Officers arrested him without incident.

Huerta is believed to be one of two men who robbed the Visalia Community Bank branch on North Dinuba Boulevard around 12:30 p.m. on Monday. The men – one of whom was armed with a gun – walked into the bank wearing women’s dresses and gave a teller a note demanding money. No images have been released of the men, but police say that witnesses could tell they were men dressed in drag.

The two suspects left with an undisclosed amount of money before officers arrived on the scene.

Huerta was booked into jail on Tuesday on suspicion of bank robbery. Authorities have not revealed whether Huerta was the suspect who was in possession of the gun during the robbery.

In addition to Monday’s robbery, Huerta has been linked to a robbery at the same bank in November 2009 and will be facing charges for that crime as well.

Officers are still seeking the second suspect in Monday’s robbery.

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