Anthony Pabros, the Union City business owner arrested in Saturday’s bank robbery, had his bail revoked and was taken back into custody in handcuffs during a court appearance this afternoon.
Pabros, 36, who had been out on $200,000 bail since Monday, was asked to provide proof that his bail funds are from a legitimate source.
Pabros was arrested Saturday on charges of robbery and conspiracy after a short pursuit following an armed at that ended with a second suspect’s death.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Dennis Hayashi granted a motion made by Pabros’ attorney, Douglas Rappaport, to waive arraignment until 9 a.m. Friday, when Pabros is scheduled to enter a plea.
Pabros is charged with four counts of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.
Deputy District Attorney Angela Backers asked that Pabros’ bail be raised to $1 million on Friday due to the severity of the charges.
Backers said Pabros was “a risk to the public and a danger to society.”
“We have very good proof that he had knowledge (of the crime),” Backers said. “We have strong evidence about planning, premeditation and intent.”
Meanwhile, Rappaport argued that Pabros was a man of good character and stature and said he has countering evidence.
“He’s not a threat,” Rappaport said, pointing to the fact that the defendant has no criminal record.
“There is some evidence that we have seen at this early stage which shows the other individual involved threatened Mr. Pabros to participate,” Rappaport said. “We’ll never know because the other individual took his own life. He was obviously emotionally imbalanced.”
Police say Pabros was the getaway driver in Saturday’s robbery.
Police said they received a call at 12:43 p.m. on Saturday that a robbery was in progress at the Bank of the West just a mile away from the police station. According to police reports, Pabros was driving the getaway car, a black Lincoln Town Car, as a nearby officer approached the scene and gave chase.
Police said a male passenger in the Town Car began shooting at the officer during the pursuit, which ended less than a half a mile away when Pabros stopped in a residential neighborhood near Arizona Street and Dowe Avenue.
Authorities say Pabros remained in the car while the man got out and continued to shoot at the officer. The officer continued firing as the suspect fled, but police aren’t sure if the suspect was struck.
The man, whose name has yet to be released, was found dead in the back yard of a home of a gunshot wound to the head, police said. A handgun was found nearby. Police are waiting for autopsy results to determine if the fatal wound was self-inflicted, according to Lt. Kelly Musgrove.
"All the things surrounding the situation don’t add up to the person I know,” said Kevin Correa, 31, a friend of Pabros. He described Pabros as being easygoing, intelligent and family-oriented.
“Why would someone so prevalent in the local community rob a bank in his own community?" Correa said. "There are too many things for him at stake to lose.”
Pabros owns , a clothing store in the Old Alvarado neighborhood, and is well-known in the community. In December, Pabros held a for the Starlight Children's Foundation where he helped gather close to 100 toys and $100 in donations.
“We’re still stunned,” said Paddy Iyer, owner of , a popular hangout located two doors down from Kingdom. Iyer said Pabros visited frequently and would refer customers to the coffee shop.
“As a neighbor, we had nothing but good relations,” Iyer said. “It’s difficult to grasp what has transpired in the last few days.”
Pabros arrived in a Fremont Hall of Justice courtroom about 2 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, wearing a black pinstripe suit and glasses. He was accompanied by group of five close relatives and friends, several of whom were in tears when Pabros was taken back into custody.
Several of the defendant’s friends arrived as the court’s proceeding began, among them former employee Xavier Hill.
Hill said he looked up to Pabros as a big brother. Like others in the community, he was shocked by the news and has questions about Pabros’ involvement in the robbery.
Pabros has a 1-year-old son whom he loved dearly, friends said .
“I don’t think he’d risk that,” said Hill, who was a guest at Pabros’ son’s first birthday party in November.
Hill, who has known Pabros for two years, said he wasn’t strapped for cash either.
“We would talk about how things were at home and he never brought up financial problems,” Hill said. “If any of us had a money problem, he was the one helping us out by giving us work to do.”
Though calls to Pabros’ commercial landlord were not returned, employees said his business Kingdom was doing well. Catering to a niche market, the clothing store specializes in “street wear,” a form of contemporary fashion that combines the hip-hop and skateboard cultures. Many local youths gravitated to Kingdom as a go-to destination for clothing and as a hangout.
“I never saw a spot like [Kingdom] before in Union City,” said employee Clayton Fua Sargento, who has worked at the shop for a year.
When Pabros was identified by police on Sunday as the getaway driver in the previous day’s robbery, Sargento didn’t believe it.
“He’s the best boss I ever had,” Sargento, 21, said. He said Pabros treated him as an equal and taught him how to run a business properly. "He's not the kind of guy to do something like that."
