Suspects Wasted No Time Spending The Cash
WATSONVILLE—an intuitive detective with the Watsonville Police Department made an astonishing discovery while looking at surveillance tape from one crime, which led to bank robbery suspects being captured in a different city. Arrested were 22-year-old Michael Kenneth Manning and 20-year-old Daniel Delgadillo, both Watsonville residents.
On Thursday, August 20 just before 11 o’clock in the morning, Watsonville Police responded to a hold-up alarm coming from the Chase Bank at 630 Main Street. Officers arrived and quickly and secured the area.
The Chase Bank on Main Street, Watsonville.
Employees told police that one of the suspects entered the bank through the front door and approached a teller. He instructed the teller to place money into the bag that he was holding. The teller was unable to see if he was armed but she complied with his request and started filling the bag. Once the bag was filled, the suspect fled through the back door and out of sight.
While looking through the surveillance footage of the area, Watsonville Police Detective Noe Rocha noticed that a vehicle that they had been investigating on an unrelated crime had made several circles around the Chase Bank shortly before the robbery. With the assistance of the FBI, Watsonville Police tracked the vehicle that same afternoon to the area of Santana Row, a shopping center in San Jose, then across Stevens Creek Blvd. to the Valley Fair Mall. At 7:00 pm, Watsonville Police and the FBI located the vehicle still at the mall, and conducted a traffic stop, detaining the two occupants.
One of the suspects, Michael Manning, was all too well known to the Watsonville Police, who knew that he was on parole for burglary. He had been arrested just a few months prior, in May, for parole violations and driving without a license, and reckless evasion with wanton disregard for public safety. His prior history, going back to when he was 18-years-old, includes as arrest in January 2011 for possessing drug paraphernalia and burglary tools, along with providing false information to an officer. He was charged with disturbing the peace, contempt of court, and violating probation in July. He faced burglary charges in August 2011.
Michael Kenneth Manning in his 2012 booking photo
In 2012, when he was 19, Manning was seen in a stolen vehicle, engaged police in chase, and crashed the car. A pursuing police patrol car then crashed into the stolen Toyota Camry, while Manning fled on foot. He was quickly caught by officers and arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting arrest, felony evading, participation in a criminal street gang and a probation violation. Additionally, between 2012 and 2015 he was charged with several probation or parole violations, post release supervision violations, and resisting arrest.
When they were detained at the Valley Fair Mall, Manning and Delgadillo had several high-priced items they had just purchased on their persons and in the car. They still had cash from the robbery on them as well.
Both Manning and Delgadillo were transported and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail. The investigation continued throughout the night as the Santa Cruz Anti-Crime Team served a search warrant at their residence in Watsonville. They found more money and evidence linking them to the robbery.
Read More: CrimeVoice.com (2012)
