Robbery suspect released due to lack of evidence

Huntington Beach resident Osiris Abenoja, accused of being the “Armed Clown Bandit,” was released from jail May 5, after the accusations against him for bank robbery were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

Abenoja, 36, had been accused of robbing four Bank of America branches in Fullerton, Anaheim and Garden Grove in October through December. Acording to the FBI, all of those robberies took place under very similar circumstances: A man wearing a black wig and a polka-dot T-shirt entered the branches announcing himself to the tellers while swinging around a black semi-automatic weapon.

Abenoja was arrested Jan. 23 and spent about 100 days at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange. The cases remain open and the FBI didn’t comment on any possible leads.

— Michelle Mocarski