Valleywide : Police Name Suspect in 18 Bank Heists

Federal authorities announced their search Tuesday for a bank robber dubbed the “White Bag Bandit” who is suspected in 18 heists throughout Southern California in the past two months.

The suspect, John Earl Wright, a 35-year-old federal fugitive, is wanted on suspicion of committing a spree of robberies in which a gunman entered banks, flashed a handgun tucked in his waistband and demanded cash while threatening to shoot customers or employees, FBI spokesman John Hoos said.

The robber then used a white plastic bag to carry his booty away, earning him the dubious title of the “White Bag Bandit.”

“He’s a prolific robber and there’s no doubt about it that we want this guy bad,” Hoos said.

Hoos said law enforcement agents connected Wright to the robberies during their investigation. He added that Wright had previously escaped from a federal halfway house, but declined to elaborate on his criminal history.

Hoos said no one has been injured in any of the robberies so far, but he warned that the bandit “does display a gun and the propensity for violence is there.”

The robberies began June 21 at a Home Savings of America branch in Hollywood; it was followed by three more bank robberies in Hollywood, two in Studio City, nine in Los Angeles, two in Santa Monica and one in West Hollywood, Hoos said. The most recent robbery was reported Aug. 19 at a Great Western Bank branch in Santa Monica.

The two robberies committed in Studio City occurred Aug. 8 at a Coast Federal Bank branch on Ventura Boulevard and Aug. 12 at a Great Western Bank on Laurel Canyon Boulevard.