Roofer Held in String of 6 Bank Robberies : Crime: Police arrest Warren Sims, 37, after receiving a tip that he resembled a description of the ‘Cowboy Bandit.’

A roofer has been arrested in connection with six recent bank robberies whose thief was dubbed the “Cowboy Bandit” after he twice wore a Stetson and generally sported a casual, Western style, police announced Sunday.

Warren Matthew Sims, 37, was taken into custody Saturday after a tipster told authorities that Sims resembled a widely broadcast description of the wanted bank robber. The caller said Sims had been working on a construction site near Los Angeles’ Chevy Chase Park.

Glendale investigators set up a surveillance of the area in Atwater Village and arrested Sims after he drove by. He surrendered without incident and is being held in the Glendale City Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, said Glendale Police Lt. Raymond Edey.

Through witnesses and bank surveillance cameras, Sims has so far been identified in three of the six holdups that began in August, Edey said.

No one was hurt during the robberies, in which the thief pointed a handgun at a teller and demanded: “I want to make a withdrawal.”

Only several thousand dollars were obtained in the string of bank robberies, which occurred in northeast Los Angeles as well as Glendale. But police have been anxious to arrest the thief, who was considered dangerous because he was armed.

“You want to get the guy because you figure he has a propensity for violence due to the fact that he carries a gun,” said Glendale Police Investigator Dennis Smith.

Smith said Sims’ resemblance to the thief’s description--a slender white male, blond, 30 to 40 years old--was unmistakable.

“When you see him, there’d be no question about it,” he said.

Smith said police found evidence that Sims uses cocaine, but added that he did not know whether it was a drug habit that allegedly prompted Sims, a father of two whose wife is pregnant, to commit the crimes.

It is possible that accomplices were involved in at least some of the robberies, Edey said.

The crime spree included two holdups at the Bank of America on Colorado Boulevard in Glendale, and one at the Great Western Bank on North Glendale Avenue in Glendale, Edey said.

Glendale police expect to meet with Los Angeles detectives and FBI agents in the next day or two to discuss the case further, he said.