Taxi Getaway Suspect Held

A suspected bank robber who used a taxi cab and an airport shuttle bus to get away after a holdup earlier this month surrendered Friday and will be charged with nine bank robberies in the San Fernando Valley, authorities said.

James Arthur Pugh, a 33-year-old transient, surrendered to FBI agents Friday afternoon, a day after authorities identified him as a suspect and released his name and description to the media.

“He found out we had identified him, and he decided to turn himself in,” said Detective Norm Roberge of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police said Pugh is thought to be responsible for nine bank robberies between June 27 and Wednesday. About $20,000 was taken in the robberies, police said.

Roberge said Pugh is suspected of being the bank robber who on Aug. 8 unsuccessfully tried to rob a North Hollywood bank and later robbed a Mission Hills bank, riding in a taxi as he moved through the Valley.

The robber eventually took the taxi to Van Nuys Airport, where he boarded a shuttle bus to Los Angeles International Airport, police said. At LAX, he got off the bus and disappeared into a crowd of travelers minutes before authorities stopped the bus and began a search, police said.

Authorities said Pugh did not take a flight from LAX but possibly left the airport in another taxi.

He is being held without bail because he violated probation for a previous drug conviction, authorities said.