SAN FRANCISCO — A federal grand jury indicted an Oakland man on multiple counts of bank robbery, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman said.
According to the indictment filed Tuesday and unsealed Wednesday, Duane Makela, 49, was charged with four counts of armed bank robbery and one count of bank robbery.
The robberies, authorities say, happened in October 2018 at Meriwest Credit Union in Mountain View and Chase Bank in South San Francisco, in November and December 2018 at US Bank branches in Alameda and Castro Valley, and in February at a Wells Fargo bank in Palo Alto. The total take was $33,301.
Each armed bank robbery count could yield up to 25 years in prison, and the bank robbery count risks up to 20 years. However, federal sentencing guidelines will ultimately affect any imposed sentence.
Just before 7 a.m. April 23, Orinda police arrested Makela with help from Oakland police at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, where his wife had given birth. He was held in connection with two Orinda bank robberies last year. At that time, sources had said he was also a suspect in other robberies.
U.S. Magistrate Sallie Kim oversaw Makela’s initial appearance and arraignment Wednesday and ordered him held in federal custody during the case.
Makela will next appear May 23 before U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Walsh will prosecute the case, based on investigations by the FBI, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office and the Mountain View, South San Francisco, Alameda and Palo Alto police departments.
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.
