A 25-year-old man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of breaking into a South Bay bank in the middle of the night and ransacking it in a futile attempt to locate money to steal.
Patrol officers responding to a burglary alarm at the Wells Fargo branch office in the 1200 block of Broadway in Chula Vista shortly after 2 a.m. arrived to find a front window broken there and someone moving around inside, according to police.
"The officers continued to watch the subject until they could safely contact him," Lt. Miriam Foxx said. "(They) were able to talk to him, and he was arrested peacefully with no injuries to anyone involved."
Inside the bank, investigators found that the intruder had pried open most of the cash drawers but had been unable to find any reserves of cash or access the vault or currency-storage areas.
"He did cause a lot of damage to the interior of the building," Foxx said.
The suspect, later identified as Rene Torres of San Diego, was arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary. Due to county booking restrictions instituted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was released with notice of a future court date, the lieutenant said.
