Local News in Brief : 30 New ‘Underwear Bandit’ Charges
An unemployed Riverside County man has been charged by Los Angeles County prosecutors with 30 additional counts of robbery, sexual battery, lewd conduct and assault with intent to commit rape in the “Underwear Bandit” case.
The new charges bring to 21 the number of robbery incidents attributed by authorities to Bruce Allen Lyons, a one-time Moreno Valley bus driver.
Lyons, who allegedly forced many of his female victims to surrender their underwear and then committed lewd acts with the panties, is scheduled to be arraigned on the new counts Monday in Long Beach Municipal Court.
The 21 robberies occurred from Sept. 7 to Oct. 23 throughout Los Angeles County, from Torrance to Pasadena and from Long Beach to Glendora, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. William V. Hodgman. Lyons also is a suspect in robberies in Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, he said.
Lyons, 33, was captured after a car chase Sunday night, shortly after the holdup of a Baskin-Robbins store in Rowland Heights. He was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
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