Suspect in Temecula Bank Robbery Arrested

A 46-year-old La Mesa man is being held on $25,000 bail after being charged with robbing a Temecula bank in late October.

Temecula police investigators arrested Michael Joseph Hamel, of La Mesa, on suspicion of holding up the on Oct. 27, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Hamel was booked into the Southwest Detention Center on robbery and burglary charges, and is set to be arraigned at 8 a.m. Friday at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley, said court records.

On Wednesday, Temecula police investigators also served a search warrant at a residence in the 4000 block of Corolyn Drive in southeast La Mesa.

Police asked for the public's help to find leads in October. To read about the robbery,

Temecula police investigators worked several leads while attempting to identify and find the person responsible for the robbery, where nobody was hurt, authorities said. No weapon was seen.

“Their investigation led them to the city of La Mesa, where they conducted a surveillance operation on a possible suspect with the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the La Mesa Police Department,” said the Sheriff’s Department.

The suspect was originally described as a white male in his late 30s to early 40s, about 6 feet tall and weighing between 185 and 210 pounds. He was wearing a blue zipper-style hooded sweatshirt, white baseball cap with the Hurley logo on the front, light blue jeans, white shoes and black Hurley-style sunglasses, officials said.

Anyone having further knowledge or information pertaining to this case is asked to contact Investigator Dickey with the Temecula Police Department at 951-696-3000 or you can contact WeTip anonymously at 800-78-CRIME or wetip.com.

Peter Surowski contributed to this report.