A thief in women’s clothing

Deepa Bharath

Police arrested a 53-year-old transvestite Wednesday on suspicion of

robbing a local Bank of America branch earlier that day, officials

said.

The man, who police identified as Brianna Catherine Cery, also

known as Bryan Cery, walked into the bank in the 500 block of Newport

Center Drive at about 5:50 p.m., dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a

blue tank top with spaghetti straps and a blond wig, Newport Beach

Police Sgt. Steve Shulman said.

Wielding a stainless steel revolver, Cery pointed the handgun at

one of the bank tellers and demanded money, Shulman said.

“The teller told him he didn’t have any money,” Shulman said. So

Cery went from teller to teller cleaning out as many drawers as he

could, he added.

Shulman would not divulge the amount of money that was taken, but

said that it “wasn’t substantial.”

A bank customer recognized Cery as someone who worked at the

Ralphs supermarket on East 17th Street in Costa Mesa, he said.

“The customer apparently said ‘hi’ to [Cery], but he didn’t

respond,” Shulman said. Soon after, the customer realized Cery was in

the middle of conducting a heist, and backed off, he said.

Newport Beach police detectives tracked Cery to the grocery store

and got a copy of his driver’s license, Shulman said. Some of the

witnesses from the bank identified the person on the photo as the

bank robber, he said.

Detectives then staked out Cery’s Long Beach home, Shulman said.

“He showed up at about 10 p.m., and was arrested,” he said.

Police had also obtained a search warrant and found the stolen

money, the handgun and “paperwork that described the robbery,”

Shulman said. Most of the money from Wednesday’s robbery was

recovered, he said.

At the time of his arrest, Cery was wearing a blue top, a black

sweater and a purple and pink skirt, he said.

Shulman said this robbery had several “unusual” elements to it.

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard of anyone robbing a bank in

women’s clothes,” he said. “What was also strange is that many of the

customers recognized him.”

Cery is not wanted on suspicion of other robberies or crimes,

Shulman said.

Cery is being held in Newport Beach city jail in lieu of $100,000

bail. He will be arraigned in federal court.