COUNTYWIDE : Busy Bank Bandit Strikes for 6th Time

One of Orange County’s most prolific bank robbers struck again Monday, racking up his sixth holdup in less than a month by robbing an Orange savings and loan association office, the FBI said.

The latest holdup by the man called “the Tijuana bandit” came after four robberies on Friday committed by another bandit.

Despite the flurry of robberies, however, the FBI’s supervisory agent in Santa Ana said that his office finished the federal fiscal year Sept. 30 showing a reduction in the number of bank holdups--254 in the 1988-89 fiscal year, compared to 316 the previous year.

Agent Bucky Cox credited the formation of a team of FBI and local police, called the Bank Robbery Apprehension Team, and the start-up of a hot line for tipsters in Orange County (800-442-2244) as key factors.

In the latest holdup at about 9:50 a.m. Monday, the armed robber showed a note demanding money to a teller at the American Savings branch at 111 Main St. in Orange, Cox said. He left with an undisclosed amount of cash.

He has been dubbed the “Tijuana bandit” because of his habit of wearing a straw hat with “Tijuana” embroidered on it. But he switched to a white, Panama-style hat on Monday.

The robber wore sunglasses, a blue blazer and a white dress shirt. He was described as middle-aged with a brown-and-gray mustache, Cox said. He is believed responsible for five other bank robberies in Irvine, Tustin and Santa Ana since Oct. 26.

A second robber hit four thrifts in quick succession Friday. Cox said that robber was being called “the Vet,” because he struck on Veterans Day.

The second bandit held up American Savings, 8231 La Palma Ave. in Buena Park; the Bank of California at 11900 Brookhurst Street in Garden Grove; Central Federal Savings at 10081 Valley View St. in Cypress, and Fullerton Savings, 1201 E. 17th St. in Santa Ana.

The man is described as being 25 to 30 years old, 6-foot-2 and slender. He wore jeans and a baseball cap over his light-brown, curly hair.