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.