A couple linked to the robbery of more than $200,000 from a Wells Fargo bank branch in Lake Forest have agreed to plead guilty next month, according to court records obtained Friday.
Tyler Justin Robert Brown, 37, and his wife, Samantha, 37, agreed this month to plead guilty May 2 in federal court in Santa Ana.
Tyler Brown was initially charged with the Sept. 24 bank robbery at a Stater Bros. store at 22351 El Toro Road by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, but federal prosecutors took over the case in November.
Brown allegedly shoved a teller inside the store’s bank branch and ordered the tellers to give him cash, according to the plea agreement. Brown threatened the tellers as he forced them to open the bank vault, saying, “Hurry up, get in there and open it, or I’m going to shoot somebody,” according to the plea agreement.
Brown loaded the cash from the vault into a box and fled with $202,036, the plea agreement said.
Samantha Brown is accused of watching the money and spending some of it, including paying rent at their apartment complex, according to her plea agreement.