Police arrest man suspected of robbing Sacramento-area banks with replica pipe bomb

Detectives on Monday arrested a Sacramento County man suspected of robbing banks in Citrus Heights and Placer County using what appeared to be a pipe bomb strapped to his chest.

John Dean Shultz, 32, of Orangevale, was arrested on suspicion of three counts each of felony bank robbery and illegal gun possession, the Citrus Heights Police Department said Tuesday afternoon in a news release.

Shultz, who also faces a misdemeanor drug possession charge, was being held without bail at the Sacramento County Jail.

Police investigators said they will ask the Placer County District Attorney’s Office to obtain an arrest warrant for Shultz on one count of robbery stemming from a bank robbery in Auburn. He is suspected in three bank robberies in Citrus Heights, and his arrest was the culmination of a months-long investigation, police said.

Shultz wore what appeared to be a pipe bomb on his chest while demanding money from bank tellers during all of the robberies, according to the Citrus Heights Police Department.

Shortly after 10 p.m. Monday, Citrus Heights detectives and members of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Detail and Explosive Ordinance Disposal units served a search warrant at Shultz’s home, according to the release. Detectives found a replica explosive device and additional evidence linking Shultz to the bank robberies, police said.

The replica device believed to have been used in the robberies was confirmed to be inert, the release said.

Police also said that detectives found two AR15-style rifles, a handgun and evidence of drug use at Shultz’s home.

The FBI’s Sacramento Field Office assisted in the investigation.