The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office was able to apprehend a bank robber within two hours of the crime.

Deputies responded to Wells Fargo Bank at 6076 North Lockwood Ridge Road in Sarasota yesterday just before 5:00 p.m. Witnesses reported that a white male with a distinctive tattoo on his neck entered the bank, implied he had a weapon and demanded cash. He walked out of the bank in an unknown direction.

A canvas of the plaza revealed that someone matching the suspect’s description had walked through a restaurant and exited out the back toward a homeless camp. The suspect was located there by K-9 deputies a short time later with the money from the bank still stuffed in his pockets.

John Velasquez, DOB 6/9/54, is charged with Bank Robbery and is currently being held in the Sarasota County Jail without bond.