‘Hefty Heister’ suspect pleads guilty to a string of Northern California bank robberies

A Southern California man dubbed the “Hefty Heister” by the FBI pleaded guilty Monday to a string of bank robberies, including a 2015 robbery at Exchange Bank in Rohnert Park, federal prosecutors said.

Wesley Allen Krohn, 34, of San Jacinto in Riverside County stole a total of $14,613 during six robberies between December 2015 and January 2016, U.S. Attorney’s officials said.

It was Rohnert Park where Krohn made off with the largest pile of cash - $9,000 - during a Dec. 3, 2015 robbery at an Exchange Bank branch on Commerce Boulevard, prosecutors said. He entered the bank just before 9:30 a.m. wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and handed a teller a note demanding cash, police said. Witnesses said he left in a white pickup.

Krohn would go on to rob five additional banks and attempt to rob a sixth, sometimes wearing a fake beard and baseball hat, and handing tellers notes demanding cash, officials said. In one case, Krohn pointed what appeared to be a pistol at the teller, ordering her to open cash drawers, prosecutors said.

Krohn was arrested in February 2016 after a high-speed chase in Lake County with sheriff’s deputies and Clearlake police.

In a video of the arrest, Krohn gets out of the car and darts across the road, then stops and gets on the ground. Krohn is shown throwing a semiautomatic pistol from his waistband then getting on the ground. A deputy ordered him to not move.

“You move, you’re going to get shot, you understand?” a deputy said.

“Yep,” Krohn said.

Federal prosecutors said Krohn took $496 from a Tri Counties Bank in Brentwood Dec. 21; $650 from Wells Fargo Bank in Pleasant Hill Dec. 22; $1,439 from Bank of Rio Vista in Walnut Grove Dec. 31; $884 from US Bank in Suisun City Jan. 9; and $2,144 from Tri Counties Bank in Elk Grove Jan. 19.

Krohn also tried to rob a US Bank in Lodi on Jan. 19. In an agreement with prosecutors, Krohn admitted to having a weapon during robberies in Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek.

Krohn could face a term of up to 25 years in prison for the two armed bank robberies, plus 20 years in prison for the other bank robberies and attempted robbery.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com.