Man Held in 18 ‘Datebook’ Bank Robberies

A 40-year-old Palmdale man was arrested on suspicion of robbing 18 San Fernando Valley banks in the past two months, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

James Wayne Jackson was arrested about 11 p.m. Thursday after sheriff’s deputies saw a car fitting the description of one sought by the FBI in connection with the bank robberies, Sheriff’s Deputy Ed Grantham said.

The car was parked at a Palmdale apartment complex, Grantham said. Deputies waited until Jackson returned to the car and drove onto the Antelope Valley Freeway toward San Fernando Valley. Jackson was pulled over near the Santiago Road exit, where he surrendered without incident, Grantham said.

Jackson is accused of being the “datebook robber,” so-called because the robber entered banks with a large datebook in his hands and pulled a note out and handed it to the teller, FBI spokesman Jim Neilson said.

Neilson said the robber would then put the money into the datebook and flee. The spokesman would not say if the robber ever showed a firearm or other weapon in any of the robberies.

The first robbery occurred April 29 at a Bank of America branch in the 19100 block of Soledad Canyon Road near Sierra Highway in Santa Clarita. The most recent was Thursday at a Security Pacific Bank in the 16900 block of Devonshire Boulevard near Balboa Boulevard in Granada Hills.

The other robberies included nine other Security Pacific branches, three other Bank of America branches, two Wells Fargo Bank branches and one each at Great Western Bank and Home Savings of America branches.

Jackson, who was held without bail at the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Station, allegedly stole a total of $25,000, Neilson said.