Leads Sought in Orange Bank Robberies

A redheaded man with a baseball cap has walked into the El Dorado Bank on Chapman Avenue with a handgun and walked out with a bag of cash three times. Now, police are asking for the public’s help before the robber strikes on a fourth occasion.

The man who held up the bank at 2730 E. Chapman Ave. in November 1995, April 1996 and then again last week was one of two described Thursday by Orange police investigators seeking leads in unrelated robberies.

The two robbers have struck a combined eight times in the city, making off with undisclosed amounts of cash, according to Orange Police Lt. Ed Tunstall.

The first robber has concentrated on the El Dorado Bank, but may be responsible for bank robberies in other cities, Tunstall said. He is described as a white man, 35 to 40 years old, from 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds. He has reddish-brown hair, a mustache and full beard, and wears a baseball cap and sunglasses.

“The [El Dorado] bank employees are particularly fearful that the suspect may return for a fourth robbery,” Tunstall said.

The second robber has struck five times in the city, all in the last three months of 1996 and all at banks either on Chapman or Tustin avenues. He may be armed, but no gun has been seen during the robberies, Tunstall said.

The robber is described as a white man, 25 to 35 years old, from 5-foot-10 to 6-foot, with dark hair, possibly pulled back into a ponytail. He also wears a baseball cap and dark glasses.

Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call Orange police investigators at (714) 744-7501.