Man suspected in 16 bank robberies
A 64-year-old man suspected in a string of bank robberies once was a well-known Napa Valley limousine driver and tour guide, according to former employers.
Arthur Cheney was arrested at gunpoint Wednesday in Yuba County and charged with one count of federal bank robbery. He is being investigated in 16 California bank robberies, dating from July with a bank holdup in Petaluma to the day of his arrest with one in Fairfield, the FBI said.
The series of robberies had been attributed to the “Highway 101 bandit,” because many of the banks were just off the freeway.
Cheney was pulled over in Marysville, Calif., because he was driving a silver Mercedes-Benz coupe that matched the description given by witnesses to several robberies, the California Highway Patrol said. The car also appeared in surveillance photos from a Dec. 5 bank robbery in Corte Madera.
After taking Cheney into custody, CHP officers said, they found a note in his car with a handwritten message that read “Robbery -- 100s and 50s only.”
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