Deputies Make Arrest in Citibank Heist



On January 6, 2014, Detective David Peterson along with Deputy John Despot and Sergeant David Rozas responded to a suspicious person call at Citibank in Rolling Hills Estates. The deputies were told by the Citibank employees the suspicious person matched a bank robbery suspect who had robbed the Union Bank in Rolling Hills Estates in December 2013. The Citibank employees had seen a flyer which depicted a photograph of the bank robbery suspect. They told the deputies the suspicious person they called on was the person in the flyer and they feared he was going to rob their bank as well. He was peeking in and out of their bank acting suspicious.



The deputies coordinated a search of the area and eventually detained Kyle Korte a short distance from the bank. He matched the description of the suspicious person call. The deputies conducted a field show-up with the Citibank employees and confirmed he was the person they had called on.



The deputies conducted further investigation and found Korte was on parole and had no legitimate business in the area. He lived in Beverly Hills and had no ties to the city of Rolling Hills Estates or other surrounding cities. They found his car, but Korte tried to separate himself from it. He tried to claim no ownership to the car despite his identification sitting on the driver's seat. The car was eventually searched. Inside the car they found a replica firearm that looked like a Beretta 92F pistol along with a black beanie. The deputies also looked at the flyer of the bank robbery suspect and saw Kyle Korte matched that of the suspect depicted in the photograph. Both men had similar builds, facial hair, and bone structure. The suspect in the flyer was also wearing a black beanie which matched that of the beanie Korte possessed. They eventually arrested Korte for reasonable cause robbery. Major Crimes Bureau detectives responded and took over for the investigation. The detectives tracked down witnesses from the Union Bank robbery and Korte was positively identified as the perpetrator.



They conducted a search of other vehicles belonging to Korte and found the actual note Korte passed to the bank teller during the robbery. They also contacted LAPD Harbor Division and found Korte had committed an armed robbery of a Walgreen's Pharmacy in Wilmington during this same time period. The firearm Korte used in that crime was the same replica firearm that was found in his car at the time of his arrest.