Suspect in 4 Other County Robberies : Innocent Plea in ‘Scanner Bandit’ Case

A 33-year-old Anaheim man who is suspected of being the “Scanner Bandit”--a thief who carries a portable scanner to monitor police movements--pleaded not guilty Friday in federal court in Santa Ana to charges that he robbed an Orange savings and loan last July.

John Paul Martin entered the plea during his arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Ronald W. Rose, who ordered Martin held without bail at the Terminal Island federal detention facility.

Rose set Martin’s preliminary hearing for Nov. 23. If convicted, Martin could be sentenced to up to 20 years in federal prison and fined $5,000, said Jim Nielsen, a special agent with the FBI in Los Angeles.

Martin is charged with bank robbery and use of a firearm in connection with the July 24 holdup of a branch of American Savings & Loan Assn. at 1965 N. Tustin Ave.

Martin also is suspected of having committed 10 other bank robberies during the last three months, Nielsen said, but no charges have been filed against him in connection with them.

Martin was arrested Thursday about 1 p.m. by FBI agents and Anaheim police while he was driving a car near the intersection of Lincoln Boulevard and Euclid Street in Anaheim, Nielsen said.

Martin was armed but did not resist arrest, Nielsen said.

In addition to the robbery of the Orange savings and loan, Nielsen said, Martin is being investigated in connection with four other bank robberies in the county:

- Mitsubishi Bank of California in Placentia on Oct. 8.

- Southwest Savings & Loan in Fountain Valley on June 22.

- Great American Savings Bank in Huntington Beach on June 29.

- Southwest Savings & Loan in Fountain Valley on Sept. 10.

Martin also is suspected in three bank robberies in Los Angeles County, two in Houston and one in Denver, Nielsen said.

“Martin usually targeted a smaller bank or savings and loan,” Nielsen said. “He would take it over by brandishing a large caliber revolver or pistol and ordering employees and customers to get on the floor.”

Martin was identified from surveillance pictures taken during bank robberies, Nielsen said.

No one was hurt during any of the robberies under investigation, Nielsen said.

Martin, who escaped from a federal prison near Houston in February, is a convicted bank robber with multiple felony convictions, according to an affidavit filed in court Friday by FBI Special Agent William Brechtel.