Palm Springs Police Catch Suspect After Bank Robbery

Palm Springs police caught a woman who they they believe may have robbed the Bank of America in downtown Palm Springs on Wednesday.

Carol Bias, 69, of Desert Hot Springs was arrested soon after the robbery happened at about 12:05 p.m. at the branch located at 588 S. Palm Canyon Drive, according to police spokeswoman Rhonda Long.

Witnesses said they saw her running north on Belardo Road. Police canvassed the area, and caught up with her about a mile away from the bank, just off Belardo.

Her clothes were reportedly stained with red dye from an exploded ink pack inside. The money was recovered.

“There was witness that saw the dye pack explode and was able to give a suspect vehicle description and a suspect description to the police and they were able apprehend her,” said Long.

Greg LaRiviere, owner of the Palm Canyon Roadhouse Bar, saw the woman running through his nearby parking.

“She was walking through the parking lot and I was just out there to picking up liter and I’m like, ‘hey honey, how you doing?’ She was like, ‘hey,’ running through the parking lot,” said LaRiviere. “Then BAM, this thing went off and I thought, ‘she just robbed that bank.'”

No one was injured in the robbery.

Her description matches the same one given during a Bank of America robbery last month at the branch on Ramon Road in the Wal Mart shopping center. It’s not known if she will be linked to that robbery as well.