‘Lucky Hat’ Robber Hits Another Bank

Los Angeles police detectives are looking for a suspected bank robber linked to 10 robberies in the San Fernando Valley since Halloween, including an attempted robbery on Tuesday.

Police say the suspect is a black male, age 25 to 30, who has been caught on surveillance cameras wearing a cap with a Nike logo.

“That Nike hat,” said Los Angeles Police Det. Tom Wich, “he wears it everywhere he goes. I think it’s a lucky hat.”

During the robberies, the suspect handed tellers notes that said, “This is a robbery, give me $100 bills only,” and he indicated that he had a gun in the pocket of his jacket.

Officials would not release the total amount stolen, but said the man takes a few hundred at a time.

“He has averaged about $500 to $1,000 each time,” said Wich. “He’s a busy guy.”

The man, who is between 5 feet 9 and 6 feet 1 and weighs about 170 pounds, has been seen alone in all but one of the robberies, driving away from the scene in a white 1983 or 1984 Nissan Sentra, Wich said.

But after a robbery of a Bank of America in Canoga Park, the suspect was driven away in an unidentified vehicle by a Latino man, 25 to 35 years old.

The suspect has robbed banks throughout the Valley, including a California Federal Bank in Reseda on Oct. 31, a Coast Federal Bank and a Wells Fargo Bank in Northridge within an hour of each other on Nov. 7 and a Sanwa Bank in Northridge on Friday. The Tuesday robbery, during which he left the bank before getting any money, was at a Wells Fargo branch in Reseda.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call detectives, (213) 485-0780 or (213) 485-2504.