Man Questioned in Bank Robberies

A man whom police wanted to question about possible involvement in four bank robberies was arrested Sunday in Ventura after allegedly resisting and delaying officers’ attempts to question him, police officials said.

Police approached the 29-year-old Ventura resident after receiving a tip from a witness who said he resembled the man who robbed a Ventura bank last month, said Ventura Officer Ross Nideffer. The same robber is suspected in three other crimes in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

The witness saw the man riding a bike in the alley behind the USA gas station on Main Street. When an officer caught up with him, the suspect was at the window of a key-duplicating service in the parking lot of Smart & Final nearby.

A Ventura police officer approached him from behind, gun drawn, said Chris Ringgold, an employee of Key Express.

The officer asked the man to tell him his name, and said he was a suspect in a bank robbery, Ringgold said.

“He wanted to know how much keys are,” Ringgold said. “The officer said to him, ‘Can I ask you your name?’ but he wouldn’t tell him.” After numerous requests by the officer, Ringgold said, the man tried to ride away on his bicycle.

The officer was trying to wrestle the suspect to the ground, when Officer Nideffer arrived.

As the man was being led away, he smiled and said, “They say I robbed a bank.”

The FBI is looking for a man who is believed responsible for four robberies in the past two months, three in Ventura County and one in Santa Barbara County. In all of the robberies, the subject wore gauze on his face, said Gary Auer, FBI supervisory agent in Ventura.

He said his agency will compare a photo of a man who robbed a bank last week in Ventura with the description of the man arrested Sunday to determine if he should be questioned about any bank robberies.