Repeat Robbers Suspected in 2 Bank Heists

Banks in Ventura and Thousand Oaks were held up in separate incidents Monday--both by lone men believed to have committed similar robberies in Ventura County, according to authorities.

The two heists brought the total number of bank robberies in the county this year to 30, according to Special Agent Larry Dick of the FBI’s Ventura office.

About 1:25 p.m. Monday, a man walked into the First Interstate Bank on Telephone Road in Ventura and showed a teller a note that demanded money. He did not brandish a weapon, but the note said he was armed, authorities said.

The man--described as white, 5-foot-10, in his mid- to late 20s with a three-day beard, wearing a baseball cap, white T-shirt and jeans--appears to be the same man who has held up banks before, including three other times in Ventura and Thousand Oaks this year, Dick said.

“That guy has robbed at least 20 times in Southern California and several times in Ventura County,” Dick said.

At 2:42 p.m., a man walked into the Coast Federal Bank on Hillcrest Drive near The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks and demanded money. He claimed to have a weapon, but did not show it and promptly fled on foot after receiving the cash, said Sgt. Al Moussa of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

“He went in, asked for the money and ran back out,” Moussa said.

The man--a Latino in his mid-20s about six feet tall, 160 pounds, with black hair down to his back and a patch over the right side of his face--is believed to have committed four other robberies this year, Dick said. One took place in Oxnard, two were in Ventura and one was in Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County.