Oakland man pleads guilty to 19 bank robberies

Authorities say the man targeted banks and credit unions in the Bay Area and Sierra Nevada, stealing more than $69,000 between March of 2018 and this February.|
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO - An Oakland man has pleaded guilty to robbing 19 banks before he was arrested at a hospital where his wife was giving birth.

Fifty-year-old Duane Makela entered pleas Thursday to 10 armed and seven unarmed robberies along with two attempted robberies.

Authorities say he targeted banks and credit unions in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sierra Nevada, stealing more than $69,000 between March of 2018 and this February.

KPIX-TV says Makela was arrested in April at an Oakland hospital while his wife was giving birth.

Makela could face decades in prison when he's sentenced in January.

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