FBI Targets Area Bank Robberies

Even as the FBI Tuesday declared a recent wave of bank robberies in the San Fernando Valley the main focus of its crime-fighting efforts in Southern California, robbers nicknamed the “Black Nylon Bandits” struck another bank.

The FBI has focused on a 64% jump in Valley bank robberies in the first six months of this year--from 45 last year to 75 this year. Takeover robberies, considered the most violent, have tripled--from seven in the first six months of last year to 21 this year, according to the latest FBI records.

“The Valley is a focal point, there is no question about it,” said Bill Rehder, the FBI’s coordinator of bank robbery investigations in the Los Angeles area.

“Since there is a tendency to rob in the Valley, there are more resources focused on the Valley . . . You do a response where you have a problem.”

Neither FBI nor LAPD officials would reveal details of their efforts in the Valley, but officials said they are staking out more banks and assigning more officers and agents to the area. The LAPD’s elite Metro unit recently staked out several Valley banks, including one that was robbed in April, closing the Ventura Freeway for several hours after the robbers escaped by running through the traffic.

The FBI, which investigates bank robberies in conjunction with the Los Angeles Police Department, says the “takeover” style robberies, in which employees and customers are held hostage by armed bandits, have become more violent and more frequent.

“I have never seen anything like that before in my career,” Rehder said of the current wave of such holdups.

He spoke shortly after three bandits toting handguns held up the TransWorld Bank at 20520 Devonshire St., jumping the counter and holding a dozen people hostage while they grabbed an undisclosed amount of cash. There were no injuries, police said.

The robbery was probably the 14th in the Valley area this year by a band of robbers known as the “Black Nylon Bandits” for the stockings they wear over their faces to mask their identities, Rehder said.

Shortly after the 2:20 p.m. robbery, LAPD Det. Norm Jackson said police recovered “much of the money” and the alleged getaway car a few blocks away.

At least a portion of the money was stained with red dye, from exploding time-delay devices used by banks to mark stolen cash, police said.

The robbers, who were wearing black clothing and black gloves, apparently did not fire shots inside the bank, said Kiara Andrich, an FBI spokeswoman.

“They shouted ‘Everybody down,’ ” she said. “Apparently they only brandished the weapons.”

Rehder said investigators believe the “black stocking” group is made up of young men in their 20s, who probably belong to various gangs.

“It makes no difference if they’re rivals on the street, if they can make money, they’ll do it together,” Rehder said.

The group probably operates mainly in the Valley because they are locals who know the area--the freeways and getaway routes--Rehder said. Of the 14 robberies blamed on them, all were in the Valley except for one holdup in nearby La Crescenta.

A second band of armed robbers, who carry assault-style weapons, have been linked to two Bank of America robberies May 2 in Van Nuys and May 31 in Winnetka. That group, known to the FBI as the “High Incident Bandits,” are particularly violent, usually announcing their arrival with a burst of gunfire to back up shouted commands at bank employees and customers.

In the May 2 robbery, they fired at the security door separating tellers from customers. No one was injured. But in the May 31 robbery, a pregnant bank employee was injured when she fell while trying to avoid the gunfire, police said.

Bank of America has offered a $100,000 reward for help capturing the robbers.

The other bank robberies that helped boost Valley statistics this year are being attributed to individuals.

One, known to the FBI as the “Phantom” because he disappeared from sight for about a year, is suspected of hitting 20 banks in the Valley. Another, known as the “Latin Bomb Bandit” because he tells bank employees he is carrying a bomb, has hit a dozen Valley banks.

The “McDonald’s McBandit,” who typically carries a drink cup from the fast food restaurant, has been blamed for seven robberies, as has the “Huck Finn Bandit,” an older man who rides away on a bicycle before stashing it in a car.

“You have a couple of serial bandits and serial groups of bandits who have robbed in the Valley consistently,” Rehder said.

“If we were to eliminate these serial groups . . . the numbers would drop.”