FONTANA, Calif. – An Indiana man killed following a bank robbery in California was also charged in a Bloomington bank robbery from last year.
Police said Travis Tarrants, 45, of Spencer, attempted to rob a Bank of America at gunpoint in Fontana, California, on April 7. He then fled to a nearby Wendy’s and tried to blend in with customers.
Customers alerted police to Tarrants’ location; he ran out the backdoor and was confronted by officers, according to KTLA.
The confrontation led to at least one officer firing a shot. Tarrants died as a result of his injuries.
According to the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office, Tarrants robbed the Old National Bank on West Third Street in Bloomington on Nov. 15. He was charged with armed robbery, attempted disarming of a law enforcement officer and resisting law enforcement resulting in injury.
A judge released him from jail in January 2022 against the objection of prosecutors. After he failed to show up for a Feb. 15 hearing, an arrest warrant was issued on Feb. 28.
Tarrants was also involved in a bizarre 2016 case in southern Indiana in which he was accused of stalking and intimidating a couple. The harassment came after he failed to get a job as a teacher and basketball coach at an Orange County school.
Tarrants mailed them packages filled with dead animals and sent multiple letters to both of the victims’ work, in one letter accusing a man of having a sexual relationship with an underage student.
He threatened them, left intimidating voicemails and called the Department of Child Services to report unfounded allegations of sexual abuse.
He eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking and was sentenced to five years in the Indiana Department of Correction. He was released from prison in September 2021.
