A Buellton resident was apprehended Saturday after allegedly robbing Buellton’s 61 West Highway 246 Rabobank on Friday afternoon. Sheriff’s detectives via various leads named John Stacey Roller, 46, a suspect in the incident. He was identified in the bank’s security camera footage, which was dispersed to the public soon after the reported robbery.

John Stacey Roller

At approximately 2:15 p.m. that day, a suspect entered the city’s Rabobank branch, making contact with the bank’s teller and demanding an undisclosed amount of money, read the Sheriff’s Office Friday press release. Described as a white male adult wearing a light colored baseball cap, a dark hooded sweatshirt, and dark colored pants, the suspect reportedly didn’t use a weapon during the robbery. He was last seen “running westbound” through the bank’s parking lot, said the Sheriff’s Office release.

Following the incident, Roller had reportedly fled his home on the 200 block of La Pita Place in Buellton. On Saturday at about 4:30 p.m., a community member reported a suspicious person — later identified as Roller — on the 600 block of Avenue of the Flags. The concerned citizen recognized the suspect from the bank’s surveillance photograph, according to a Saturday press release from the Sheriff’s Office.

As Sheriff’s personnel began searching the area, another member of the community reported a suspicious person reportedly “hiding within the bushes in the 700 block of Central Avenue.” Sheriff’s deputies, who had obtained a warrant for Roller’s arrest, contained the area and took Roller into custody without incident. He was booked into County Jail on a robbery charge. His bail was set at $100,000.

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