Suspect in ‘White Bag Bandit’ Bank Robberies Is Arrested
FBI agents and police officers Tuesday arrested a fugitive wanted in connection with 21 armed bank robberies in Los Angeles County and three in San Francisco after he allegedly held up a fourth bank in San Francisco.
John Earl Wright, 35, is suspected of committing a rash of bank robberies in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Studio City, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood since June, authorities said.
Wright was captured Tuesday, shortly after a San Francisco branch of Bank of America was robbed, FBI spokesman George Grotz said. The gunman pointed a pistol at a teller about 12:30 p.m., took $2,000 and fled in a taxi, he said.
Both the FBI and San Francisco police “just happened to be in the neighborhood” and responded to a radio call regarding the robbery, Grotz said. Authorities spotted the taxi and arrested Wright and Joseph Barnes, 22.
Wright, who police said had escaped from a halfway house, was wanted in connection with the bank robberies after the first occurred June 21 at a Hollywood Home Savings of America branch.
Authorities dubbed the robber the “white bag bandit” because he reportedly stuffed his loot in a white plastic bag.
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