Countywide : Man, 34, Arrested in 6 Bank Robberies

The FBI and Ventura County sheriff’s investigators arrested a 34-year-old Meiners Oaks man Thursday suspected of robbing at least six banks since the first of the year, authorities said.

Mark Tory was taken into custody Thursday morning at his home after tips from Bank of A. Levy and Wells Fargo employees led investigators to the rural residence northwest of Ojai, said Lt. Joe Harwell of the Ojai sheriff’s substation.

Tory is suspected of committing robberies at six banks in Ojai and Ventura, Harwell said.

The most recent robbery took place Tuesday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Bank in Ojai, he said.

The joint investigation between federal agents and sheriff’s deputies resulted in the issuing of a search warrant Thursday. Authorities had already congregated outside the home in the 300 block of La Luna Avenue before the warrant was signed by a federal magistrate, Harwell said.

“We sat on the house starting about 7 in the morning with the knowledge the warrant would be issued today,” Harwell said.

Tory entered the house and officers telephoned him, told him to come outside and he was arrested without incident, Harwell said.

Tory was scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon before a federal magistrate in Santa Barbara before being transferred to a federal facility in Los Angeles to await a formal indictment, FBI Agent Gary Auer said.

A motorcycle believed to have been used in the robberies was recovered at the home, but no other information about evidence seized during a search of the home was available Thursday, Harwell said.