Suspected ‘Bicycle Bandit’ Held in Series of Bank Holdups

A 41-year-old man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of being the “Huck Finn Bandit” or “Bicycle Bandit” who committed 21 bank robberies in the San Fernando Valley and other parts of the Los Angeles area, authorities said.

James Arthur Pugh was taken into custody at a North Hollywood motel about 10 a.m., said Lt. James Razukas of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Pugh was held on suspicion of robberies in the Valley, Burbank, Glendale and other parts of Los Angeles that began May 8, Razukas said.

Authorities nicknamed the bandit after his holdup style: He wore a fisherman’s hat that reminded some of Mark Twain’s fictional hero, and he rode from the banks on a bicycle to a getaway car.

Police said Pugh was seen driving a car last Thursday that matched the description of one used in a Santa Clarita bank robbery. Sheriff’s deputies followed that car to the Valley where LAPD officers stopped the vehicle and arrested two accomplices, but Pugh escaped on foot, Razukas said.

According to police, Pugh hijacked another car and robbed a First Citizen’s Bank on Van Nuys Boulevard 15 minutes later. The next day, police say, Pugh tried unsuccessfully to rob a bank in Burbank and then held up a Glendale Federal Bank branch on Ventura Boulevard.