Man Accused of 45 Bank Heists Will Be Arraigned

A man believed to be Southern California’s most prolific bank robber will be charged with holding up a total of 45 institutions since June, FBI Special Agent Karen Gardner said Thursday.

Gregory Nishinaka, 30, of Monterey Park was arraigned in Los Angeles on Thursday on a single robbery charge which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. The FBI alleges that Nishinaka committed seven robberies in Orange County and most of the others in Los Angeles County.

Gardner praised the work of Seal Beach Police Officer Kay Moulton, who arrested Nishinaka on Wednesday near a Security Pacific National Bank branch at the Rossmoor Center, on Seal Beach Boulevard north of the San Diego Freeway.

“She (Moulton) did a fantastic job,” Gardner said. “And we owe a debt of gratitude to her for being so observant.”

Nishinaka allegedly committed more robberies between June 7 and Oct. 1 than any one person in Southern California since 1984, Gardner said. The FBI declined to say how much money was taken.

Nishinaka was driving a car about 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday near a Security Pacific bank, according to Seal Beach Police Sgt. Dean Zanone. Moulton stopped the car after observing “suspicious behavior,” Zanone said. The registration on the car had expired, according to the FBI.

Zanone said Nishinaka and a passenger were taken into custody without a struggle after a computer search revealed that Nishinaka was wanted in connection with the July 19 robbery of a savings and loan in Arcadia. The passenger was released without being charged.

According to Gardner, Nishinaka allegedly used a consistent routine: He waited in line with other customers and, after reaching a teller, orally demanded money while warning that he carried a gun. In no instance did Nishinaka display a weapon.

Additional charges against Nishinaka will be filed in the next two weeks, said Gardner, relating to the following robberies in Orange County: June 24, Coast Federal Bank, 13900 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach; June 27, Union Federal Savings Bank, 5677 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim; July 1, American Savings Bank, 7830 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach; Aug. 5, Century Federal Savings & Loan Assn., 10081 Valley View St., Cypress; Aug. 30, Union Federal Savings Bank, 23688 El Toro Road, El Toro; Sept. 3, Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Assn., 12000 Beach Blvd., Stanton; Sept. 18, Glendale Federal Bank, 7146 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach.

The allegations of 45 robberies by Nishinaka place him second only to Edwin Chambers Dodson since 1984. Dodson, dubbed “The Yankee Bandit,” robbed 64 Los Angeles-area banks within six months, including six institutions on one day, according to Gardner.

In the first nine months of 1991, 1,667 robberies occurred in Southern California. During all of 1990, she said, there were 1,652 robberies.