‘Blue Note Bandit’ gets eight years for 13 robberies

A Laguna Niguel man, dubbed the “Blue Note Bandit” for a string of robberies in Costa Mesa and other Orange County cities, was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison and will have to pay $26,000 in restitution, according to prosecutors.

David Andrew Camp, 52, robbed 13 banks in about two and a half months, and was known for handing tellers a note demanding large bills and no dye packs, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

According to the D.A.’s office, he robbed banks in Costa Mesa, Irvine, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest and San Juan Capistrano.

Many of the banks were in grocery stores, prosecutors said in a news release.

Camp was arrested Feb. 17, 2010, by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after family members saw Camp in the media coverage and contacted authorities.

— Lauren Williams