Bank Hit Twice by Man Dressed as Armored-Car Worker : $25,000 Reward Offered for Fake Guard

Security Pacific Bank, whose employees twice have handed over bags of cash to a bandit disguised as an armored-car guard, Friday offered a $25,000 reward for the bandit’s capture and conviction, the FBI announced.

The FBI also released a drawing of the man made from witnesses’ descriptions.

Bucky Cox, a bank robbery specialist for the FBI in Santa Ana, said the bank’s reward offer was unusual, “but it’s an unusual loss. And the guy’s been successful twice. There’s no reason to think he’d quit.”

On Tuesday, the bandit, dressed in a uniform similar to those worn by the guards in the bank’s usual armored-car service, entered the Security branch on Tustin Avenue in Orange, where about $400,000 in cash was waiting to be transported to the Federal Reserve Bank in Los Angeles.

Real Guard Appeared

Bank employees did not realize they had given the money to an impostor until the real guard appeared 90 minutes later.

The FBI believes that the same man pulled the same scam at a Security branch in Arcadia Oct. 14. In that case bank officials did not discover the loss until auditors learned two months later that the money had never reached the Federal Reserve Bank.

The amount the bandit took from the Arcadia branch has not been disclosed.

Cox said the impostor’s familiarity with bank procedures is evidence the bandit has worked as an armored-car guard. Cox said, however, that he is not certain that the impostor has inside information on when money shipments are scheduled.

Description of Suspect

Cox described the man as a Latino between 26 and 30, between 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 6 feet, heavily built, with short, dark hair, brown eyes and a light complexion. He is clean shaven.

Witnesses said he drove away in a black or maroon two-door Japanese sports car that had retractable headlights.

Cox asked that anyone knowing a man who fits that description and has access to such a car call either the FBI at (714) 542-8825 or (213) 477-6565 or the Orange Police Department at (714) 532-0250.