Man gets 3 years for fishing money from Santa Rosa bank boxes

A 33-year-old used sticky mouse traps to fish for money at Exchange Bank in downtown Santa Rosa. His accomplice was sentenced to a year in jail.|
PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The second of two defendants accused of fishing for money from Sonoma County bank deposit slots was sentenced Friday to three years and four months in jail.

Jose Lara, 33, of Santa Rosa received the punishment for thefts that occurred earlier this year involving a Santa Rosa Exchange Bank branch and possibly others.

He pleaded no contest to two counts of commercial burglary and one theft charge. Lara’s record included a previous burglary conviction.

His accomplice, Paige Jillian Curtis-Thompson, 26, of Rohnert Park was sentenced Wednesday to a year in jail.

The two were suspected of using sticky mouse traps to fish for money at the downtown bank. At the time, law enforcement had received about 15 other reports of similar crimes at banks in Sonoma, Windsor, Petaluma, Healdsburg, Cloverdale and Larkfield.

It was unclear how much money was stolen or if the couple was behind the other thefts.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.

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