Police: Robberies could be linked
Marisa O’Neil
A man robbed a Newport Beach bank Thursday afternoon, and police
believe he may be the same one who struck another bank in the city
last week.
Three Newport Beach banks have been hit by robbers in the past 10
days, two likely by the same man, police said Friday. In each of the
two possibly-connected holdups, the robber passed a teller a note,
indicating he had a gun and demanding money.
On Thursday, a man came into the Union Bank at 396 Superior Ave.
just before the bank’s 5 p.m. closing time, Newport Beach Sgt. Bill
Hartford said. The man pulled a note from his jacket pocket and
passed it to a teller, Hartford said.
“He placed it on the counter, leaned over and told the victim to
follow the instructions,” Hartford said. “He indicated he was armed
with a handgun.”
The teller gave some money to the man, who stuffed it in his coat
and demanded more, police said. The teller complied and the man made
off with an undisclosed amount of money, Hartford said.
The alleged robber didn’t draw attention to himself throughout the
exchange and calmly walked out, he said.
“As the suspect was leaving, a bank employee unlocked the door and
let him out,” Hartford said. “Nobody knew what was going on.”
He is described as a white man, 35 to 40 years old, 5 feet 5
inches tall, about 140 pounds, with black hair and dark eyes. On
Thursday, he was wearing a tan sports jacket, black jeans and white
shoes, police said.
Police think he’s the same man who robbed a Bank of America at
3475 Via Lido on May 25.
That robbery took place at 1:20 p.m., when a man passed a similar
note to a teller, police said. Police last week released a
surveillance photograph of the suspect in that case, described as a
white man in his mid- to late-30s, brown hair, muscular build and
full mustache, wearing a blue-and-white Hawaiian-print shirt.
The similar physical description, method of operation and
surveillance footage lead detectives to believe the same man is
responsible for both robberies, Hartford said.
A third robbery, May 26 at a Union Bank at 1090 Bayside Drive, has
not been connected to the others. In that case, a man wearing a
motorcycle helmet vaulted a counter, brandished a gun and demanded
money from a teller.
He fled with the money and discarded the gun, which turned out to
be fake, Hartford said.
Newport Beach police, the FBI and members of the Orange County
Sheriff’s Department bank-robbery task force are investigating all
the robberies.
It’s an unusual number of robberies in the city in such a short
time, Hartford said.
Newport Beach had only one bank robbery last year. Police arrested
a cross-dressing bandit in May 2004 after he allegedly robbed a
Fashion Island Bank of America, while wearing jeans, a tank top and
blond wig.
In December, police shot and killed a man inside a Fashion Island
Washington Mutual Bank after he allegedly pointed a gun at them, but
that was not believed to be a robbery. Bank employees called police
after they grew suspicious when Paul Acierno, 35, tried to withdraw
money from an account.
Police now believe the Costa Mesa resident was fraudulently
looting his invalid father’s bank account.
Five people were arrested last month in connection with the case.
Anybody with information on the latest robberies is asked to call
Newport Beach Police at (800) 550-6273. Tips can be given
anonymously.
* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be
reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil @latimes.com.
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