Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Location: City National Bank, 2600-block of Townsgate Road
Date & Time/ RB#: Feb 8, 2010 @ 10:58 a.m. / 10-3250
Unit Responsible: Thousand Oaks Patrol & East County Major Crimes Unit

(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (W)itnesses Address Age
(S) Harris, Leland Thousand Oaks 55

A Thousand Oaks resident was arrested Monday morning while preparing to rob a local bank on Townsgate Road.

Thousand Oaks deputies found Leland Harris outside the City National Bank, where a witness reported seeing him sitting in his car watching the bank for approximately one hour. Harris had a pellet gun tucked in his waistband, and had a handwritten note in his pocket to demand money.

His preparations included wearing a large hat, sunglasses, and a fake mustache to avoid being identified. Harris had also changed the license plates on his vehicle. Harris told investigators he hadn’t committed to robbing the City National Bank, but planned to rob one of the banks in the nearby area.

This is the second time in two months that a robbery suspect was identified and apprehended outside a Thousand Oaks bank while preparing for a robbery.

Harris was booked at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility in Ventura for attempted robbery. He is being held in lieu of $100,000.00 bail.