Countywide : Suspected Serial Bank Robber Held

An Upland man suspected of being one of Orange County’s most elusive and prolific serial bank robbers was arrested Monday after a bank in Mission Viejo was robbed, the FBI announced Tuesday.

Robert Dean Skiles, 45, nicknamed “the Hostage Bandit” by authorities, was arrested without incident by FBI agents and investigators from the Anaheim Police Department shortly after the robbery at First Interstate Bank in the 26000 block of Avery Parkway.

The robber “presented a teller with a demand note and a bag to put the money in,” FBI spokesman Gary Morley said. “The note indicated that he had an accomplice and that they had taken hostages. He also pulled a small handgun out of his pocket to make sure the teller was aware that he had a weapon.”

Morley said Skiles, who was arrested at an intersection in Ontario, is suspected of robbing 20 other banks in nine county cities dating back to February, 1991. Skiles was charged with bank robbery in the Mission Viejo bank holdup.

Morley said an armed man matching Skiles’ description had passed similar notes falsely stating that he had taken hostages during bank robberies in Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Mission Viejo, Seal Beach and Santa Ana.

Morley said no one was injured during those robberies and that hostages were never taken. Skiles has not yet been charged with any of the other robberies.

Other prolific Orange County serial bank robbers have been caught and convicted in the last year, including the stylish “Mr. Pleats,” who wore pleated slacks while robbing 25 banks; “the Marty Robbins Bandit,” who resembled the late country-Western singer and committed 26 robberies, and “the Blue Bag Bandit,” who robbed 16 banks carrying a blue cloth bag before being caught.

Skiles is being held at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles under $25,000 bail. If convicted, he could be sentenced up to a maximum of 20 years in prison and fined $5,000 on each bank robbery.