Local News in Brief : Tustin : FBI Arrests Parolee in 2 Bank Robberies

FBI agents arrested a paroled bank robber Monday in connection with two robberies of a Tustin bank earlier this year, an FBI spokesman said.

Andre Mark Vasquez, 44, a transient residing in a Colton hotel, was arrested by special agents of the FBI after a joint investigation with Tustin police, announced Lawrence G. Lawler, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles FBI office.

Vasquez also is wanted for a May, 1988, robbery of a Kansas City, Kan., bank and is wanted as a federal parole violator, FBI Special Agent Bucky Cox said. In the Kansas City robbery, the suspect was dubbed in press reports as “the singing telegram bandit” because he entered the bank under the guise of delivering a singing telegram, Cox said.

As a suspected parole violator, Vasquez is being held without bail at the federal prison at Terminal Island, Cox said. He will be brought before a U.S. magistrate this week in Santa Ana, where charges will also be filed for the Kansas City robbery, Cox said.

Each count of armed bank robbery carries a maximum sentence of 25 years and/or a $10,000 fine.

Authorities also are investigating Vasquez’s possible involvement in bank robberies in San Bernardino and Santa Ana, Cox said.

Tustin police worked with FBI agents in tying Vasquez to the July 8 and Sept. 15 robberies of a Wells Fargo Bank on Red Hill Avenue in Tustin, Cox said.