Mrs. Doubtfire Bank Robbery

Name the Mrs. Doubtfire Bank Robbery Suspect!!

On Friday April 3, 2015 at approximately 3:00 p.m., the US Bank at 110 Morrissey Blvd was robbed for an undisclosed amount of money.The suspect used a note demanding money and no weapon was seen. Nobody inside the bank was injured. Capitola PD and the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Department assisted in the search of the suspect but to no avail.

On the same day approximately 1 hour before the bank robbery, the same suspect was in the Rabo Bank located at 3110 Mission Dr in the county. The suspect was acting suspicious and contacted by bank employees. The suspect left the bank without committing any criminal act. It appears that the same suspect was possibly casing the bank. When the bank employees contacted the suspect they were surprised to see that although the suspect was dressed like a female, the suspect was actually a male. Hence the title, the Mrs. Doubtfire bank robbery.

The suspect is described as approximately 25-35 years old, 160-170 pounds, 5’5” tall, with dark skin. The suspect is wearing prescription glasses, a wavy blond wig, navy blue scrubs, and a light purple long sleeve undershirt.

The Santa Cruz Police Department is in need of some help from the community. We believe these are great photos of the suspect and somebody in the community has to recognize this person.

Congratulations to Lieutenant Bernie Escalante - Graduation from POST Command College

Ladies and Gentlemen……Three Cheers for Lieutenant Bernie Escalante and his graduation from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training Command College.    

Chief Vogel joins Lt. Escalante at his graduation ceremony

Folks, this is no easy feat.  Command College is a grueling Master’s level course lasting 18 months.  In fact, to even be accepted, there is a rigorous selection and interview process.  The program is heavily focused on the study of “futures” in law enforcement; preparing our leaders for the next big challenges. The process includes an intense course of study, reading and many, many, many writings. 

More on the POST Command College program can be found here:

http://www.post.ca.gov/command-college-video.aspx 

Bernie’s Capstone project was a futures portfolio that included a research article for publication titled; The Transformation of Law Enforcement in California:  Managing Criminal Offenders. 

Bernie’s project was one of only two selected for actual publication in the Journal of California Law Enforcement.

While many among us have completed the FBI Academy program, Bernie is the first from our department to complete Command College.

We are awfully proud of this guy…Bernie has established himself as a strong leader in the organization.  Bernie is currently the commander of our Investigations Unit and a co-commander of our Emergency Services Unit Tactical Team (that's SWAT for those of you keeping score).  He is an integral part of our leadership team and shaping the future of the Santa Cruz Police Department.

Congratulations to Lieutenant Bernie Escalante!!!