Home › News › State
Robbery suspect was popular tour guide, driver
STORY TOOLS 
More from StateNAPA (AP) — A 64-year-old man named as a suspect in a string of bank robberies once was a well-known Napa Valley limousine driver and tour guide, according to a former employer.
Arthur Cheney was arrested at gunpoint Wednesday in Yuba County and charged with one count of federal bank robbery. He is being investigated in 16 other California bank robberies that stretched from Petaluma to Westlake Village.
The stickup streak has been attributed to a robber dubbed the "Highway 101 bandit" because many of the banks were located just off the freeway.
Steve Taylor, co-owner of Executive Limousine, said that until Cheney started his own limousine service several years ago, the affable driver was his most-requested chauffeur because of his personality, his knowledge of the area and his understanding of wine.
The last time he saw Cheney, looking ill, was two years ago, but other drivers had seen him out and about until the beginning of the year, when he seemed to disappear, Taylor said.
"Either he was terminally ill or something, because the Art Cheney I knew would never rob a bank. But, you know, you never know with people."
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.