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Bank-robbing old man in California is gaining public support and making friends on Facebook.
File image provided by FBI shows ‘Geezer Bandit’ robbing a USA Bank branch June 7, 2010 in Poway, Calif. To his legions of fans, he is a bank-robbing old man with a quirky nickname whose popularity only seems to grow with each heist. But authorities say he is an armed and dangerous menace.
AP FILE PHOTO
LOS ANGELES — Entrepreneurs are printing surveillance shots of his wrinkled face on T-shirts, thousands of people “Like” him on Facebook and many are wishing him continued success at evading the law.
To his legion of fans, the “Geezer Bandit” is a bank-robbing old man with a quirky nickname whose popularity only seems to grow with each heist.
But authorities trying to track him down say there is nothing light hearted about the doddering robber.
They say he is an armed and dangerous menace who leaves bank tellers terrified and could strike at any time. He might even be someone younger disguised under a lifelike special-effects mask.
In a region the FBI has dubbed the bank robbery capital of the world, where stickups still occur on an almost daily basis, the “Geezer Bandit” case has captured the public’s interest like few others in recent memory.
And for now at least, the aging robber is showing no signs of retiring.
On Jan. 28, authorities say the blazer-clad geezer struck at a Bank of America branch in Goleta, a city northwest of Los Angeles. Witnesses estimated him to be between 60 and 70 years old.
It was the farthest he’d roamed from San Diego County, where he is suspected of robbing 11 banks starting in August 2009. He is believed to have robbed a Bank of America in Bakersfield, bringing the tally to 13.