Full Notification

On Tuesday July 12, 2016 at approximately 1:50 PM, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call into our dispatch center. A person called to say that the Chase Bank in the Town of Windsor had been robbed by masked gunmen. Another person called and said the guard from the armored car company had been shot, and a dark colored SUV was seen speeding away.

Deputies arrived within two minutes. They found one adult male, an armored car employee, who had suffered a gunshot wound.

They quickly learned that a car came toward the armored truck when it stopped at the bank. Two men got out of it, confronted the guards and started shooting. They fled with an undetermined amount of money. They then got into another car and made their getaway.

We immediately contacted neighboring law enforcement agencies to ‘Be On The Lookout’ for the car containing the armed and dangerous suspects. We issued an alert to the residents of Windsor to avoid the area of the Lakewood Shopping Center and locked-down the businesses.

As people learned of the crime, we received many tips from people in the area. Detectives from our Violent Crimes, CSI, Narcotics, Property Crimes and other investigations units responded and began interviewing witnesses and processing evidence. Agents from the FBI also came to the scene, as is protocol in bank robberies.


Meanwhile, an observant officer from the Calistoga Police Department saw a car that matched the description containing the suspects. After a pursuit one suspect is in custody another is still at large. There currently is a manhunt in the Calistoga area for the outstanding armed and dangerous suspect.

We cannot comment on the details regarding an activity in Napa County. We do have members of our SWAT team and other resources dedicated to that scene to assist their agencies.


This is an open and unfolding case. Detectives are hard at work piecing together the evidence at the scene and interviewing countless witnesses. We appreciate the public’s patience and understanding as serious crimes and scenes of this magnitude take considerable personnel many hours to complete. We cannot release details that might interfere with the investigation of the case.

We are asking that anyone with information pertaining to this case call our Investigations Tip Line at 707-565- 2185 or submit information on the Silent Witness form on our website. You can remain anonymous if you desire.


Please note:
There are no photos of the possible suspects available.

It was reported that the men were armed with long guns, whether not this meant a shotgun or rifle is not known as of yet. We are not releasing information about the caliber or type of weapon.

The armored car guard was conscious when he was rushed to the hospital. There is no information about his current medical status.


Prepared by Sergeant Cecile Focha
Media Relations/ PIO