$600K Linked To Loomis Armored Truck Heist Found Buried In Fontana Backyard

FONTANA (CBSLA.com) — Hundreds of thousands of dollars believed to have been stolen in a Loomis Armored truck heist was dug up Wednesday at a Fontana backyard, FBI officials said.

Approximately $600,000 in cash was found buried in the 9300 block of Marcona Avenue, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

FBI officials were tipped off that the money was buried in the backyard of one of the suspects in the heists, Eimiller said.

Cesar Yanez, 37, of Fontana, Aldo Esquivel Vega, 28, of Pomona, and 39-year-old Jovita Medina Guzman, of San Bernardino, were arrested last year on federal charges of stealing more than $1 million in cash, part of a shipment that was being transported for Bank of America.

A federal indictment unsealed on Nov. 13, 2014 alleges that Yanez and Vega -- who were Loomis employees -- were transporting a multi-million dollar shipment of cash for Bank of America when they stopped in a parking lot on West Adams Boulevard. Federal prosecutors say Vega opened the rear doors of the armored car, allowing Yanez to get into the cash storage area and remove $1,086,000 in cash.

The cash was placed in a trash can that had been left in the parking lot and later picked up by an as-yet-unidentified person. Later, Guzman allegedly delivered some of the stolen money to Vega.

Yanez has since pleaded guilty conspiracy and bank larceny charges and was sentenced in April to five years in prison.

One woman said, "It's the kind of thing you see in movies."

"One of the individuals charged was  resident [of the home] in Fontana," said Eimiller. "It was in that yard, we searched following the arrest in November. At that time, we did find approximately $85,000 in the residence."

Bianca Castillo is a neighbor of the Fontana home where the money was discovered.

"He remodeled his lawn a couple times, he would take the grass off, put it back on, and remodel all the time," Castillo said.

Eimiller said the investigation is far from over. The FBI is still searching for approximately $300,000.

However, neighbors insist that the missing money is right in front of them, in the form of in-home upgrades and purchases.

No further arrests have been made in the case, but the investigation is ongoing.