San Diego

Two San Diego men suspected of robbing eight banks and a grocery store of more than $25,000 have been captured after they allegedly robbed a Las Vegas bank and tried to escape in a motor home.

Mark Robert Robe, 21, and James Wendel Whidden, 49, both of the 7700 block of Acama Street in Mira Mesa, were arrested about 5 p.m. Monday after they allegedly robbed Valley Bank in Las Vegas, said Bill Robinson, spokesman for the San Diego Police Department.

The men used a motor home they had rented in Las Vegas for their escape and were arrested without incident by Las Vegas police, Robinson said. Several thousand dollars, six guns and a shotgun were recovered from the vehicle, he said.

The pair, dubbed the “old man-young man” team by San Diego police, were wanted in connection with a string of robberies committed in San Diego and Carlsbad from Dec. 8 through Feb. 15.

The robbers would enter an establishment pointing shotguns and yelling for people to get down and away from the money drawers, Robinson said. The young man would vault over counters to the cash drawers to collect the money, while the older one covered him with a shotgun, Robinson said. During one robbery, shots were fired into the ceiling.

The men, who wore black ski masks and dark blue, hooded sweat shirts and sweat pants, would flee in separate vehicles, Robinson said.

The suspects are in custody in Las Vegas. It was not known whether they will be returned to San Diego or tried in Las Vegas on federal bank robbery charges, Robinson said.