Suspect In Bank Robbery Arrested On Bus

SONOMA, CA — A woman suspected of robbing a bank Wednesday in Sonoma was taken into custody a short time later on a city bus, Sonoma police said.

Deputies found out about the bank robbery at 1:09 p.m. when a hold-up alarm was activated at Union Bank, 500 Broadway in Sonoma, Sonoma police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said.

Deputies went to the bank near state Highway 12 and West Napa Street and spoke with witnesses who said a woman wearing a blue shirt and black pants approached a teller and said, "I'm robbing the bank," Rodriguez said.

A witness saw the robber get onto a Sonoma County Transit bus that was headed south on Broadway.

A deputy followed the bus for about 4 miles until it stopped on Watmaugh Road at Stage Gulch.

The suspect, later identified as Porschia Jhonette Napalan, 43, of San Francisco, was on the bus and had a bank bag containing the money, Rodriguez said.

She was detained on the bus, and once witnesses positively identified her as the person who robbed the bank, Napalan was arrested on suspicion of robbery, the chief said.

As Napalan was in the process of being booked into jail late Wednesday afternoon, deputies were continuing to gather video evidence and speak with witnesses, Rodriguez said.