Texas men arrested in connection to Thousand Oaks bank withdrawal robbery

Two Texas men have been arrested in connection with a Thousand Oaks robbery in which a woman was assaulted and robbed of thousands of dollars shortly after withdrawing cash from a local bank, authorities said. The robbery occurred April 23 at about 3 p.m. in the 1400 block of East Thousand Oaks Boulevard, according to the Ventura County Sheriff ’s Office. A 52-year-old woman reported that several thousand dollars had been forcibly taken from her after she left a nearby bank. She suffered non-life-threatening injuries and provided investigators with information about the suspects, VCSO said. Detectives with the Ventura County Sheriff ’s Office East County Major Crime Unit linked the robbery to an earlier theft that day in Oxnard, where a 25-year-old man reported that several thousand dollars had been stolen from his unlocked vehicle after a bank withdrawal. Investigators identified the suspects as 31-year-old Cedarien Cooksey and Tavione Simmons, 25, both from the Houston area. Authorities said the men have extensive criminal histories involving organized criminal activity and socalled “bank jugging” crimes, in which suspects target people who have recently withdrawn cash from banks or ATMs. Arrest warrants were issued for both men on charges of robbery and grand theft. Working with Texas and federal law enforcement agencies, authorities arrested Simmons on May 15 and Cooksey on May 20. Both are awaiting extradition to California. In late March, the sheriff ’s office announced an increase in bank jugging, or bank-follow-home, crimes across Ventura County and urged residents to remain vigilant when withdrawing cash, conceal it immediately, maintain awareness at the bank and call 911 immediately if they believe they’re being followed. —Becca Whitnall