Snowboarder Bandit linked to Palm Springs holdup
The so-called Snowboarder Bandit wanted for 10 Orange County heists was linked today to a bank holdup in Palm Springs.
The bandit, who is on the FBI’s list of most-wanted Southern California bank robbers, is suspected of holding up a BBVA Compass branch at 420 S. Palm Canyon Drive last Friday, said Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
After reviewing surveillance footage, investigators today determined it
was the Snowboarder Bandit, said FBI Special Agent Chris Gicking, who said it’s
believed to be the first time the suspect has ventured out of Orange County to
commit a heist.
He walked into the bank branch, presented a clerk with a note saying he had a gun and left with an undisclosed amount of money, Amormino said.
The suspect earned his nickname because of his youthful appearance and the knit hat and ski clothes worn to disguise himself. He switched to wearing a large motorcycle helmet in several recent holdups, according to Gicking.
In the Palm Springs robbery, however, the suspect wore a baseball cap without sunglasses, as he has in past robberies, Gicking said.
The bandit is white, with nearly shoulder-length, sandy-blond hair, Gicking said. He’s white, 25 to 35 years old, at least 5-foot-10 and weighs about 160 pounds.
Authorities released a composite sketch of the Snowboarder Bandit on Monday.
Last Thursday, he was seen about 4:45 p.m. at a Wells Fargo branch at 3951 Portola Parkway in Irvine, where he asked bank personnel about a safety deposit box, but left when he was asked for his name, Amormino said.
Rewards totaling $10,000 have been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the bank robber, whose second most recent successful heist was March 21 at a U.S. Bank branch in a Pavilions market in Irvine at 3901 Portola Parkway.
The bandit apparently tried to rob a Citibank branch in Irvine on March 17 that he held up in January, Gicking said. He stood in line wearing the motorcycle helmet, but when told he would have to wait a few minutes, he apparently got spooked and left, Gicking said.
The Snowboarder Bandit is also suspected in holdups starting Dec. 20 in Laguna Hills, Jan. 9 in Anaheim Hills, Jan. 15 in Irvine, Jan. 28 in Ladera Ranch, Jan. 31 in Corona del Mar, Feb. 1 in Irvine, Feb. 13 in Anaheim Hills, Feb. 21 in Laguna Niguel, March 2 in Irvine and March 5 in Anaheim Hills, Eimiller said.
Anyone with information about the suspect’s identity or whereabouts was asked to call Gicking at the FBI’s office in Santa Ana at (714) 542-8825.
