Lemon Heights Man Charged in Bank Heists

A 60-year-old former car salesman, in debt to a Las Vegas casino and behind in payments on his Lemon Heights home, was charged Friday with being the “Mercedes Robber,” a masked bandit who stole more than $36,000 from banks and always fled in a luxury getaway car, FBI said.

George Christian Carr appeared in federal court Friday on charges he robbed three banks in Irvine, Mission Viejo and Orange, FBI officials said. The last robbery occurred on Monday at a Great Western Bank in Irvine, FBI spokeswoman Karen Gardner said.

Carr was arrested on Thursday without incident at his upscale home in the 2100 block of La Cuesta Drive.

The “Mercedes Robber” was so named because he fled in a Mercedes-Benz, driven by a woman, authorities said.

Carr’s wife, Charlotte, 46, who is the registered owner of the Mercedes 380 SE that was believed to be the getaway car, has not been charged, but the FBI is investigating any possible link.

“It’s only logical that we’d be interested in her,” Gardner said, but “the investigation is continuing.”

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Carr is charged with robbing the Irvine Great Western Bank branch, which owns the mortgage to his $750,000 home.

Witnesses told police that a man wearing a rubber mask entered the bank carrying a handgun and what appeared to be a hand grenade.

The robber yelled, “This is a holdup!” and ordered tellers not to “push any buttons,” according to John D. Meiter, an investigator for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which also investigated the case.

Taking $15,850 in $50 and $100 bills, the robber then fled in a light-colored Mercedes Benz, court records show.

But an alert teller, who was hiding in a break room, peered out a window and jotted down the license number of the car, which was traced to Carr’s home, the FBI said.

Investigators questioned Carr and drove the teller to the house to identify the Mercedes, court records said. He was arrested after investigators returned with search warrants for his house and car and found evidence implicating him in the crime spree, FBI said.

Authorities said the evidence links Carr to a Dec. 3 robbery at Hawthorne Savings in Mission Viejo, in which the robber brandished a handgun at two tellers and took $5,735, according to the complaint filed in federal court.

He also is accused of a Dec. 23 armed robbery at Orange National Bank in Orange, in which the robber escaped with $14,757, the complaint said.

No one was injured in any of the robberies, authorities said.

Authorities said there were marked similarities in all three heists: The bandit always escaped in a light-colored Mercedes-Benz driven by a woman; he brandished a pistol, described as a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson; and he always wore either a dark ski mask or a rubber face mask.

At his house, investigators found a .38-caliber pistol, a .44-caliber pistol, a dark ski mask, toy hand grenades, about $2,300 in $50 and $100 bills, a ring that matched a description given in the Irvine robbery, and a variety of clothing that matched that worn by the robber in surveillance videos, court records show.

Described by neighbors as an avid gambler, Carr reportedly owes the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas $10,000 in gambling debts, according to FBI agent Richard Whitaker of the Las Vegas division.

He also admitted to local authorities that he has not paid his $4,600 monthly mortgage payment since the bank robberies began.

Carr had also started a toy distributing company, Signature 88, but was forced to close it last year because he did not properly license the company, FBI officials said.

It was not clear how long he had run the company, where it had been located or how profitable it had been before authorities forced it to close.

About a year ago, Carr left his job as a salesman at Palmer Import Motors, a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Long Beach. A sales manager, who identified himself only as Jerry, said only that Carr had worked there for several years. He declined to comment further.

In 1987, Carr received an out-of-court settlement for $1.01 million after suing another dealership, Saddleback BMW, for breach of contract and wrongful termination, according to records filed in Orange County Superior Court. Carr, identified in the lawsuit as a top salesman for the firm, alleged that the company reneged on commissions due him.

Prosecutors on Friday said that Carr had a previous criminal history, and it was also mentioned in the civil suit, filed initially in 1985. But state Department of Corrections officials could not confirm that.

At his neighborhood, nestled in the hills of Lemon Heights, residents who knew Carr said that they were surprised to learn of his arrest. They described the Carrs as quiet neighbors.

“They don’t speak much, but they are friendly,” said a neighbor who asked not to be identified.

Carr was also described as a gun enthusiast who reportedly kept a collection of firearms in his house. The FBI, however, confiscated only the two handguns.

“He’s shown me some huge pistols that would scare the daylights out of you,” the neighbor said.

According to court documents, the Carrs made a one-day jaunt to Las Vegas on Tuesday.

“George never gave us the impression that he was in a financial pinch,” the neighbor said. “We were shocked to find out” about the arrest.

Carr appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday before U.S. Magistrate Ronald W. Rose on three counts of armed robbery, FBI spokeswoman Gardner said. He was expected to return to court on Monday for a detention hearing.

Carr was being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, authorities said.

A third hearing was scheduled for March 23, said Ken Miller, a public defender, who represented Carr at Friday’s hearing. Angela Oh, Carr’s private attorney, will represent him at the Monday hearing.

Times staff writer Mark I. Pinsky contributed to this story.