Bakersfield Serial Robbery Suspect Caught

by Matt Martz , May 6, 2013

Dhaliwal, 23

BAKERSFIELD – According to detectives with the Bakersfield Police Dept., a 23-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a series of bank robberies that started back in January with the most recent happening just over a week ago.

The suspect, Jasdeep Singh Dhaliwal of Bakersfield, was taken into custody by police at approximately 9:40 p.m. on Friday, May 3, 2013 and then booked into a Kern County jail where he is currently being held on $2 million bail.

Dhaliwal is being charged with three counts of first-degree robbery.

The first robbery police said occurred on Jan. 29, 2013 at a Chase Bank inside an Albertson’s grocery store located at 3500 Panama Lane in Bakersfield.

The second was on April 4, 2013 at a Rabobank located at 3990 Gosford Road, and the third on April 27, 2013 at a Bank of America at the Marketplace located at 9000 Ming Avenue.

Police said in all three robberies, Dhaliwal appeared to enter the bank alone and posing as a customer approached a teller passing a note demanding money. He then told employees he had a firearm, although police said it’s unclear if he actually had a gun.

Dhaliwal at a Teller Window

In all cases, Dhaliwal then fled the scene on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.

No one was injured during any of the robberies.

Bakersfield Police detectives investigating the string of crimes suspected that one individual committed all three robberies after Dhaliwal showed up in three separate video surveillance photographs around the time of each holdup.

“Being able to identify the suspect from the video surveillance tapes was key in making the arrest,” said a BPD detective who is investigating the case, which is ongoing.