A 29-year-old man accused of either robbing or trying to rob banks over a two-month span in Riverside and Moreno Valley was charged Monday with two counts each of robbery and attempted robbery.
Nathaniel Vincent Gallardo of Rancho Cucamonga was arrested and booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside on Thursday following a Riverside Police Department investigation.
Gallardo, who is being held on $500,000 bail, was slated to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, the defendant allegedly tried to rob a bank in Moreno Valley on June 15 and targeted financial concerns in Riverside on July 3, July 27 and July 31.
“The first crime in Riverside occurred … when the suspect entered the Bank of America in the 5200 block of Canyon Crest Drive, approached a teller and passed a note stating he was armed and demanding money,” Railsback said. “The teller activated the alarm, and the suspect fled without obtaining anything.”
The police spokesman alleged that Gallardo employed the same method during a holdup at a Citibank on Central Avenue and was given $1,000 in cash, after which he fled.
“Then on July 31, he entered the US Bank in the 9800 block of Magnolia Avenue and again passed a note claiming to be armed and demanding money,” Railsback said. “He fled after obtaining approximately $2,000.”
No one was injured during the encounters.
Detectives ultimately gathered sufficient evidence to identify Gallardo as the alleged perpetrator in each instance, according to Railsback.
With assistance from U.S. Marshals, the defendant was tracked to Logan Avenue in San Diego, where he was taken into custody without incident Thursday morning.
Gallardo has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County. However, court records show that he has an unresolved misdemeanor DUI case pending from 2019.