Countywide : 1 Man Suspected in 8 Bank Robberies

FBI officials said Wednesday that a man suspected of robbing eight banks in the past three weeks is responsible for nearly a quarter of the bank robberies in Ventura County this year.

The man--suspected of staging the biggest bank robbery spree in the county this year--has escaped with money from two banks in Port Hueneme, one bank in Thousand Oaks, two banks in Oxnard, one bank in Ventura and two banks in Camarillo, said Gary Auer, agent in charge of the FBI’s Ventura office.

The man also tried unsuccessfully to rob the 1st Nationwide Bank at 49 N. Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks at 2:49 p.m. Friday, Auer said. The teller he approached told him that she would not give him money, and the two began arguing, he said.

“He got mad and left,” Auer said.

About 20 minutes later, the man showed up at Valley Federal Savings at 215 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. in Thousand Oaks, where he got away with money, Auer said.

The FBI, which has surveillance photos from some of the robberies, is asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect, Auer said.

So far this year, there have been 35 bank robberies in Ventura County, a decline from the 58 robberies that had occurred during the same period in 1989, Auer said. Prosecution has been started or is pending on individuals suspected in 20 of the robberies, Auer said.

The unidentified bank robber usually goes up to a teller window, presents a demand note that claims he has a gun and then verbally demands the money. However, he has never shown a weapon, Auer said.

Authorities suspect that a second man, a driver, may be involved in the robberies, Auer said. On a few occasions, witnesses have seen the man before the robbery riding as a passenger in a late-model, black, four-door Buick Skylark being driven in the area, he said.

The robber has been described as a Latino man, between 25 and 30 years old, with a light complexion and black hair. He is about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. He has been cleanshaven and at times described as having a cleft chin, Auer said.

He dresses casually, normally wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes, short-sleeved shirts and baseball caps.

A similar string of county bank robberies ended on Aug. 22, when two men suspected of robbing seven banks and trying to rob two more were arrested, Auer said. They are now awaiting trial in federal court.