Paso Robles bank robbery suspect surrenders
December 14, 2019
Billy Hernandez waiting outside the jail for deputies
By KAREN VELIE
On the lam for almost a month, a suspect in a Paso Robles bank robbery turned himself in on Friday, with the assistance of a local bounty hunter.
On Nov. 15, two masked men entered the Pacific Premier Bank holding handguns, and demanded cash. The next day, officers arrested Michael Wallravin, 61, on a charge of bank robbery.
At that time, officers said they were looking for two people of interest in connection with the robbery: William Weldon Chandler, 61, and Billy Benjamin Hernandez, 47.
Recently out of prison on parole, Hernandez was afraid he would be shot, beat up or bit if he attempted to turn himself in to law enforcement. In 2012, Hernandez repeatedly stabbed a man at at a home in Heritage Ranch.
Through a friend, Hernandez asked bounty hunter Richard Dunbar to assist in his surrender. Dunbar agreed to do the job without pay, and on Friday evening, the bounty hunter drove Hernandez to the San Luis Obispo County Jail.
Richard Dunbar and Billy Hernandez
While the plan was to turn himself in at the lobby window, the room was filled with visitors. In order to promote a safe surrender, Dunbar called the watch commander and waited outside the lobby. Two patrol units responded, and deputies took Hernandez into custody without incident.
“The deputies were very calm and collective, as was Billy,” Dunbar said. “Billy contacted us because he wanted a smooth surrender.”
At 9 p.m., the deputies arrested Hernandez under Penal Code 3056, which allows a parolee awaiting a parole revocation hearing to be housed in a county jail.
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