Ex-Con Accused Of Robbing San Francisco Bank, Depositing Funds At His Own Branch
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A convicted bank robber was arrested after allegedly robbing a San Francisco Wells Fargo bank at gunpoint last week and later that day depositing cash at his own Wells Fargo branch.
An FBI criminal complaint identifies 49-year-old Leonard Nathaniel Heath as the suspect in the armed robbery at the Wells Fargo branch at 2300 Irving St. in the city's Sunset District on January 20.
At the time, Heath was serving the remainder of a 2005 bank robbery conviction at a Bureau of Prisons halfway house on Taylor St. in the city's Tenderloin District.
The complaint alleges Heath stuck a handgun into the back of one bank employee and repeatedly threatened to shoot bank tellers unless they gave him more cash than they had given him.
Heath then left the bank carrying about $18,340, according to the complaint from FBI Special Agent Adrienne Sparrow.
Later that afternoon at the Wells Fargo Civic Center branch at 1266 Market St., Heath made a cash deposit of $800, according to Sparrow. Employees told FBI investigators Heath was a regular customer and had told bank employees he was jobless, with very little money, and recently had a family emergency he needed to take care of.
Heath, who also had a bank robbery conviction in 1995, faces a 20-year prison sentence if convicted. He made his initial appearance in San Francisco Federal Court Monday and was scheduled for a detention hearing on Friday.
Carlos E. Castañeda is Senior Editor, News & Social Media for CBS San Francisco and a San Francisco native. You can follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
