Police put sting on familiar face

Marisa O’Neil

Costa Mesa Police had a reunion of sorts on Wednesday night when they

arrested a man previously convicted of a series of liquor store

robberies in Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach.

He was outside a liquor store when they took him into custody

Wednesday.

Officers recognized Newport Beach resident Michael Wade Dunkovich,

also known as the “Yellow Jacket Bandit,” as he pulled into a parking

lot at the corner of Adams Avenue and Harbor Boulevard. He was wanted

in connection with a series of robberies in Costa Mesa, Huntington

Beach and Westminster, starting on May 15, Lt. John FitzPatrick said.

In 2001, the 35-year-old Dunkovich was sentenced to three years in

prison for a series of gas station robberies in the same cities,

including one at Baker Street and Fairview Avenue.

“He was sentenced to three years and got out after two,”

FitzPatrick said. “He got out in February of this year, then in early

May started committing [more] robberies.”

A detective on the original case, now a sergeant, heard about the

latest spate of robberies and decided to track Dunkovich down,

FitzPatrick said. He got a description of Dunkovich’s vehicle and

spotted it on Wednesday night.

The marked police car followed Dunkovich as he pulled his car into

the parking lot of the liquor store.

“He pulled into the liquor store and the sergeant pulled in behind

him,” FitzPatrick said. “He saw [Dunkovich] preparing to rob the

store -- he got out of the car and pulled his shirt over his face. He

didn’t even see [the sergeant] behind him.”

Dunkovich was taken into custody without incident and booked on

suspicion of robbery and a parole violation. He is being held without

bail. Police believe he is responsible for as many as 11 recent

robberies.

He earned the name “Yellow Jacket Bandit” because he wore or

carried a yellow denim jacket during the robberies that occurred in

2000. He targeted liquor stores, pulling his T-shirt over his face

and pretending to hold a handgun.

In those robberies, he netted a total of $1,300.

FitzPatrick said Dunkovich seemed to have abandoned the yellow

jacket but sometimes wore a yellow shirt during the robberies. At the

time of his arrest, he wasn’t wearing any yellow.

If convicted, he could face 25 years to life.