2 Indicted on Bank Robbery Charges

Two Ventura County men were indicted Tuesday in connection with separate bank robbery sprees.

Robert Kenneth Porter, 34, of Casitas Springs was indicted by the federal grand jury in Los Angeles on 10 counts of bank robbery.

Porter, who is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, had originally been charged in an Aug. 22 bank robbery in Oxnard. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

A hearing on all 10 counts has not been scheduled, FBI Special Agent Gary Auer said.

Porter is suspected of robbing eight Ventura County banks since July 3 as well as a Carpinteria bank and one in Valencia, Auer said. He was dubbed the “taxicab bandit” because he allegedly fled in a taxi after two bank robberies.

Porter was arrested Aug. 22 at his home after authorities matched a license-plate number seen by the manager of an Oxnard Bank of America branch.

Ruben Barajas, 37, of Oxnard was indicted on two counts of bank robbery by the federal grand jury in Los Angeles.

He is charged with robbing two Oxnard banks in September, Auer said.

Barajas was arrested Oct. 6 after being identified from photographs taken at the banks and by witnesses, Auer said.

A hearing for Barajas, who is also being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, has not been scheduled.