Crime & Safety

Temecula Bank Robbery Being Pinned on La Mesan, Now Sitting in Jail

Michael Joseph Hamel is charged with robbing Provident Bank on Oct. 27, authorities say.

Updated at 9:25 a.m. Thursday

A 46-year-old La Mesa man is being held on $25,000 bail in a Murrieta jail after being charged with robbing a Temecula bank in late October.

Temecula police investigators arrested Michael Joseph Hamel on suspicion of on Oct. 27, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

La Mesa police Capt. Dan Willis said Thursday that Hamel was arrested about 10 a.m. Wednesday while driving home on state Route 54.

Find out what's happening in La Mesa-Mount Helixwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The FBI transported him [to Riverside County] and did all the work,” Willis said.  “We were there only to assist.”

Hamel was booked into the Southwest Detention Center on robbery and burglary charges, and is set to be arraigned at 8 a.m. Friday at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley, said court records.

Find out what's happening in La Mesa-Mount Helixwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On Wednesday, Temecula police investigators also served a search warrant at a residence in the 4000 block of Corolyn Drive in southeast La Mesa.

Temecula police investigators worked several leads while attempting to identify and find the person responsible for the robbery, where nobody was hurt, authorities said.  No weapon was seen.

“Their investigation led them to the city of La Mesa, where they conducted a surveillance operation on a possible suspect with the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the La Mesa Police Department,” said the Sheriff’s Department.

The suspect was originally described as a white male in his late 30s to early 40s, about 6 feet tall and weighing between 185 and 210 pounds. He was wearing a blue zipper-style hooded sweatshirt, white baseball cap with the Hurley logo on the front, light blue jeans, white shoes and black Hurley-style sunglasses, officials said.

Anyone having further knowledge or information pertaining to this case is asked to contact Investigator Dickey with the Temecula Police Department at 951-696-3000 or you can contact WeTip anonymously at 800-78-CRIME or wetip.com.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.