Bank Robber Sets Up His Own Capture

For Randall Pazjk, dealing with everyday life was always hard. It was robbing banks that came easy.

So when he decided to knock off the First Interstate Bank in Santa Monica on Wednesday, he followed the same routine that had worked for him at seven other bank holdups in Southern California. Only this time Pazjk decided to set up his own arrest.

Santa Monica police say Pazjk, 31, admitted he was the anonymous caller who informed the FBI at 11:40 a.m. that a “friend” had planned a 1 p.m. heist at the Ocean Park Boulevard bank. The caller included such descriptive details as the color of the sport coat, slacks and the paisley tie the robber would be wearing.

The robber would hand the teller a note demanding money, explained the caller, who noted that his friend was very punctual.

“And moments after 1 p.m. guess who comes walking up to the bank,” said Police Sgt. James Hirt.

Police and FBI agents waited outside while the man, later identified as Pazjk, waited patiently in line before calmly handing a holdup note to a teller. The teller filled a bag with $2,583 in cash and handed it to the man, who turned around and announced that “he couldn’t do it” before giving the bag back, police said. He then walked out of the bank to a swarm of officers with guns drawn.

Police said Pazjk, an unemployed ex-convict, decided he could not handle a life on the run.

“He said it was like being an alcoholic, that he didn’t want to start robbing banks again and couldn’t help himself,” Hirt said. “From his perspective, prison is preferable to living on the streets. But I think if he had not called and turned himself in, he probably would have gotten away with it. His record so far has been very successful.”

Police say Pazjk robbed seven banks in Orange County during the mid-1980s before he was finally caught on his eighth try. He recently had been released from Terminal Island federal prison on bank robbery charges and had been living in a Santa Monica hotel, unable to find work or adjust to life outside prison, police said.