Robber Makes Donation After Lancaster Bank Heist

Call him the bandit with the Christmas spirit.

A man who held up a Bank of America branch in Lancaster on Thursday paused during his getaway to drop a dollar bill into a Salvation Army kettle outside the bank before fleeing. An FBI agent who asked not to be identified said the man then simply kept walking.

“Apparently it worked,” said the agent. “He got away.”

The heist occurred at noon, when the man walked into the bank at 730 W. Lancaster Blvd. carrying what was believed to be a fake gun, and gave the teller a note saying he wanted $100, $50 and $20 bills, authorities said.

The robber, described as a white man about 40 to 50 years old, 6 feet and 180 pounds, told the teller not to look at him. He was wearing a red plaid, long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, said FBI Special Agent John Hoos.

“We call him the robbing hood--he was stealing from the rich and giving to the poor,” said Colonel George Church, divisional commander for the Salvation Army in Southern California.

FBI agents confiscated the dollar as evidence, however, Church said.

“They took the kettle, took the dollars out and did the dusting and whatever else it is they do,” Church said.

Church quipped that the bandit probably heard his public appeal last week for help. Salvation Army collections are down 15% from last year in Southern California, and public demand for the group’s charitable services is way up.