Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 08/27/2009

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Terry Menshek - (707) 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Deputy District Attorney Tashawn Sanders

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

FELONY CHARGES IN BRINKS ARMORED CAR ROBBERIES

Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that felony charges were filed against Robert Steve Starling, 35, and Andrew Esslinger, 26, for committing four robberies of armored car drivers and using a firearm in the commission of those offenses. Esslinger was charged with participating in the two 2009 robberies, which occurred in Novato and Sebastopol.

District Attorney Passalacqua stated, “These felony charges stem from working in collaboration with our local and federal public safety partners. We will continue to proceed in a fashion that holds the defendants accountable.” The District Attorney’s Office added a charge of conspiracy to commit the robbery in Novato. It is alleged that Starling and Esslinger conducted surveillance and made a false report to the Novato Police Department as a ruse in furtherance of this conspiracy.

The D.A.’s office also added an additional felony charge of conspiracy to commit robbery in Rohnert Park on March 18, 2009. Recent information obtained by law enforcement suggests that Starling and Esslinger planned to commit a robbery of an armored car in Rohnert Park and went there on March 18, 2009, to carry out the plan. It is alleged that Starling and Esslinger conducted surveillance of banks in Rohnert Park. It is further alleged that Starling and Esslinger made a false report to 911, of a man on a high school campus with a gun, to divert law enforcement away from the bank to enable them to commit the robbery. The robbery was not committed. Both defendants were originally charged with making a false report to Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety on March 18, 2009.

The charges are a culmination of investigations conducted by Santa Rosa Police Department, Sebastopol Police Department, Novato Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations over a two year period. The first robbery occurred in Santa Rosa on September 27, 2009, and the last was committed on May 18, 2009, in Sebastopol. The F.B.I. obtained information that linked Starling and Esslinger to the robberies, and Santa Rosa Police Department took the lead in the investigation. All agencies worked together in a collaborative effort to gather sufficient evidence for the District Attorney’s Office to file charges in this case. A warrant was issued on May 24, 2009, and both men were arrested that night. On May 26, 2009, Starling and Esslinger appeared in court to be arraigned on the charges. No pleas were entered and the case was continued to Sept. 2, 2009, in Department 10 for entry of pleas and consideration of bail.