Local News in Brief : Cab-Riding Bandit Considered a Suspect in 11 Robbery Cases

A bandit who made a getaway from a bank robbery by using a taxi and then an airport shuttle bus is suspected in at least 10 other robberies in the San Fernando Valley since April, authorities said Tuesday.

The bandit escaped Monday by taking a cab and then a bus to Los Angeles International Airport after attempting to rob a bank in North Hollywood and then successfully robbing another in Mission Hills, authorities said. He has been dubbed the “Two-Glasses Bandit” by authorities because he wore a pair of sunglasses over regular eyeglasses during the first robbery, April 19.

The FBI declined to say what made them suspect the same man in those robberies and nine others, but an agency spokesman did say that on one other occasion the robber was known to have used a cab to make his getaway.

In that robbery, July 8 in Granada Hills, the bandit took a cab from a bank to Van Nuys Airport, where he hopped on a shuttle bus to LAX, where he escaped. FBI spokesman Fred Reagan said the man’s mode of transportation was not known in all of the robberies. He said the bandit has gotten away with a total of $25,000.