$200,000 robbery began with tip from bank security guard, feds say

The armed robbery of $200,000 from a Chase bank parking lot in Palmdale earlier this year was reportedly enabled by a security guard who tipped off the culprits.

The plot began when that guard, 24-year-old Tyjana Grayes of Palmdale, learned a couple was coming to the bank to pick up $200,000 in cash, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced, as reported by the Los Angeles Times .

Grayes allegedly passed that information on to Lancaster residents Jerry “Poppa” Wimbley Jr., 21, and Roman “Siete” Isaiah Smith, 24, who reportedly held up the victims using semiautomatic handguns in February.

All three face charges of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, interference with commerce by robbery, and aiding in or using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Wimbley faces additional gun and money-laundering charges, and Smith is separately charged with murder, the Times reports.

If convicted on all counts, the suspects would each face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

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