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.”

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.