Watsonville police arrest a bank robbery suspect
Watsonville Police take a female suspect into custody on a trail along Struve Slough about 300 yards from Bay Federal Credit Union, 50 minutes after the crime allegedly occurred. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

This story has been updated from a previous version with additional information.

Watsonville Police on Friday afternoon arrested a Watsonville woman who allegedly robbed the Bay Federal Credit Union on the 1400 block of Main Street.

Elizabeth Rojas, 34, was charged with robbery and attempted robbery. She booked into Santa Cruz County Jail, but her bail information was not listed on the county’s jail booking website as of 6pm.

Rojas was arrested at about 2:40pm, less than an hour after the robbery,  as she was walking on a trail along Struve Slough a short distance from Bay Federal.

She is suspected of trying to rob the same bank in March.

According to emergency dispatchers, a woman in her 30s with dark hair over her shoulders, wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and a white surgical mask over her face handed a teller a note demanding money and threatening to stab the teller.

She fled with an undisclosed amount of money in a shoulder bag. Police recovered most of the money and a small kitchen knife, police said.

Watsonville Police searched the area using a drone.

bank robbery
Watsonville Police detective Collin Travers deploys a drone Friday in the Overlook Center on Main Street after a woman reportedly robbed a Bay Federal Credit Union bank around 2:40pm. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

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Tarmo Hannula has been the lead photographer with The Pajaronian newspaper in Watsonville since 1997. More recently Good Times & Press Banner. He also reports on a wide range of topics, including police, fire, environment, schools, the arts and events. A fifth generation Californian, Tarmo was born in the Mother Lode of the Sierra (Columbia) and has lived in Santa Cruz County since the late 1970s. He earned a BA from UC Santa Cruz and has traveled to 33 countries.

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