Crime & Safety
Judge Sets Hearing for Alleged Serial Bank Robber, Accomplice
Joshua Metoxen faces felony attempted robbery charge in connection with botched bank robbery in Novato in April, while Jack Henry Dennis is accused of driving him to and from a number of those robberies.
A judge on Monday scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case against a 23-year-old American Canyon man who is accused of robbing the U.S. Bank in the Hamilton Safeway in February and attempting to rob it a second time in March, as well as the man accused of driving him to and from those robberies.
Both Joshua Metoxen, 23, and Jack Henry Dennis, 20, are charged with robbery and attempted robbery in connection with the Feb. 19 and March 28 incidents. A preliminary hearing, in which the prosecution will lay out its case against the men in the hopes that Marin County Superior Court Judge Terrence Boren will find that there is probable cause to send it to trial, is scheduled for Oct. 1.
Metoxen is also reportedly a suspect in numerous other robberies in Sonoma, Lake and San Mateo counties, authorities said. He previously was wanted on a $750,000 warrant from Lake County. Authorities are also investigating whether Metoxen was involved in other robberies in Marin, including the Westamerica in Strawberry on March 13.
Metoxen is considered a suspect in 11 bank robberies and three attempted robberies, Lake County Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Brooks told the Marinscope Newspapers.
Metoxen remains in jail in lieu of $1 million bail, while Dennis, whose bail Boren reduced from $500,000 to $250,000, is out of custody.
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Both Metoxen and Dennis face felony attempted robbery and burglary charges in connection with a March 28 incident in which a bank teller at U.S. Bank in the Safeway at 5720 Nave Drive in Novato recognized the alleged robber as having been involved in a previous robbery at the bank. The suspect, whom police have identified as Metoxen, fled the bank on foot and Novato Police later pulled over the tan-colored sedan believed to be involved in the attempted robbery on the northbound Hwy. 101 on-ramp ay Rowland Boulevard.
The alleged getaway vehicle in the attempted robbery on March 28 matches the description provided by police in the aftermath of the bank robbery in Strawberry on March 13, authorities said.
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In making his case against reducing Dennis’ bail, Deputy District Attorney Otis Bruce said Metoxen was lying down in the back of the car when police pulled it over. He also alleged that Dennis had admitted to driving Metoxen to and from prior bank robberies, including the previous one in Novato as well as one at the Westamerica Bank in Strawberry Village on March 13.
Dennis' defense attorney William Daley said that Dennis' involvement in the March 28 incident was minimal. "The only connection my cient has to Mr. Metoxen is that he was driving with him in a vehicle after the alleged attempted robbery," he said. Daley also claimed that the amount of money taken in the Feb. 19 robbery at the U.S. Bank inside Safeway was between $1,500 and $2,000, noting that it involved no violence of weapons.
Novato Police officials have said they are working with a variety of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, to determine the involvement of both suspects in previously reported robberies throughout Northern California.
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