The Seal Beach Police Department suspected Robinson after a Jan. 10 bank robbery of a Washington Mutual there, Eimiller said. But they could not locate him, and the bandit kept robbing banks, including Glendale’s Citibank at 1201 N. Central Ave., she said.
During the Jan. 22 robbery in Glendale, the bandit entered the bank about 1 p.m. and passed a Citibank teller a note that said he had a gun and would use it if the teller didn’t give him money, Eimiller said. The teller gave him the money, and he fled.
Employees immediately recognized the robber as the “Salt-and-Pepper Bandit” because they had received an FBI flier with his picture, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.
“We had some very good eyewitnesses,” he said.
Citibank was the 13th bank that the robber had held up since Jan. 5, Eimiller said.
The Glendale bank robbery was similar to other holdups that the robber had committed in past, she said.
The Salt-and-Pepper Bandit either gave the bank teller a note that said he had a gun or that he would shoot if the teller didn’t give him money, or made verbal demands for cash during the robberies, Eimiller said.
Bank robbers are frequently caught because local law enforcement agencies and federal investigators are searching for them and there are video surveillance tapes of the crime, Lorenz said.
“No matter how much you think you can get away with it, you’ll eventually get caught,” he said.
Robinson, who is being held at the Federal Metropolitan Detention Center, has been cooperative with FBI agents since his arrest, Eimiller said.
He is expected to appear today at the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles, where he will likely be charged with bank robbery in a criminal complaint.
?VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.
