Top Button bandit receives 8 years in prison
A Huntington Beach man, known by authorities as the “Top Button Bandit,†has been sentenced to eight years in state prison for a series of bank robberies.
Patrick Lawrence, 31, was also ordered last week to pay restitution after pleading guilty to four felony counts of second-degree robbery and two felony counts of attempted robbery.
Lawrence earned the nickname from authorities because he wore shirts with his top button buttoned during the stick-ups, prosecutors said. Even more curiously, prosecutors say he took a cab to several banks on a day he held one up.
Lawrence held up a Bank of America in Santa Ana about 11:30 a.m. Oct. 14. He handed the teller a note demanding money, and the teller gave him $2,000.
Four days later about 2:45 p.m. Lawrence robbed the Wells Fargo Bank in Huntington Beach. Again he handed the teller a note demanding money in $20s, $50s and $100s, and warned that the bank’s employees were being watched. Lawrence got $2,060.
Lawrence held up a Citibank branch in Santa Ana on Nov. 5 and made off with $3,300.
About 2 p.m. Nov. 8 Lawrence called for a cab to pick him up at the Westminster Motor Inn and told the driver he needed a ride to the Downey Savings Bank to cash a check.
When they got there he had the driver wait and came back a minute later saying the bank was closed. They went to a nearby U.S. Bank branch and again Lawrence got out and returned a minute later saying the bank was closed and asked to be taken to the Wells Fargo bank in Huntington Beach.
When he got to that bank, he handed the teller a note saying, “No alarms. Protect yourself and everyone in here. Out of your teller only $20s, $50s, $100s only. No microchips, no ink dye.â€
The teller wasn’t sure what to make of the note so the teller asked for the manager and showed her the note. The manager gave Lawrence $656, and he fled in the cab.
PAUL ANDERSON is the Independent’s city editor. He may be reached at paul.anderson@latimes.com or at (714) 966-4633.
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