5 Bank Heists Later, Calif. FBI Still Hunting for the “Geezer Bandit”

“Geezer Bandit”/fbi photo

Five bank robberies and 3 ½ months later, the FBI in San Diego is still hunting for an elusive, elderly mystery man in his 70s dubbed the “Geezer Bandit.”

“It’s unusual for someone this age to be robbing banks,” Darrell Foxworth, an FBI spokesman in San Diego said Wednesday. “Normally our bank robbers are 18 to 45 and male.”

Rail thin, clad in baseball cap and brandishing gun, the man held up his first bank in San Diego County on Aug. 28. Since then, he’s robbed a bank in that county about every two to four weeks, authorities said.

Authorities are taking it all very seriously.

Three different rewards totaling $16,000 are being offered in the case. And the FBI’s San Diego office has prominently displayed his photo on the homepage of its website along with the headline: “Have You Seen This Man?” A press release is attached.

The mystery man, described as being between 5-foot 10 and 6-foot 3, 150 pounds and unshaven, last struck on Nov. 16 at the Bank of America on Girard Avenue in La Jolla, Calif., authorities said.

The FBI said the man approached a teller, flashed a gun and demanded cash. The teller turned over an undisclosed amount of cash and the “Geezer Bandit” was off.

The FBI’s Foxworth says the man tries to be low key and draw little attention during the stick ups. He discreetly passes a note and demands cash. The only other person who knows what’s going on is the teller, Foxworth said.

“He’s not doing anything to draw attention,” Foxworth said. “He walks out with the same speed he walk in.”

The FBI is working with local police to try and capture the robber.

“We’ve had a number of ledes, but nothing has resulted in an arrest at this time,” Foxworth said.

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