Suspect in Bank Holdups Held in Valencia Robbery

A man FBI officials believe may be the “Three B” bandit responsible for up to 28 Southern California bank robberies was arrested Thursday after allegedly holding up a bank in a Valencia supermarket.

The robbery occurred just as FBI agents were about to hold a news conference asking for help finding him.

The unidentified suspect was arrested with a woman in Westwood after being followed from Valencia by a Santa Clarita-based sheriff’s deputy, officials said.

“We’re not saying it’s definitely the Three B bandit, but based on the description and his MO, there’s a very good possibility that it could be him,” said FBI Special Agent John Hoos.

The 12:45 p.m. holdup of a Wells Fargo Bank branch inside a Von’s supermarket on The Old Road came just hours before a news conference at which FBI agents asked for help in catching the Three B robber and another gang of bank robbers dubbed the “Shop and Rob” crew.

That group, two men and a woman, also may have struck again Thursday. They were thought to be responsible for a robbery that morning at a Union Bank branch in Anaheim, FBI officials said.

The Three B robber earned his moniker by demanding “big bills, bitch,” from tellers, officials said.

Shortly after the Wells Fargo robbery Thursday, a sheriff’s deputy spotted a blue Toyota Corola on the Golden State Freeway that matched a description of the robber’s getaway car. The suspects were arrested after pulling off the freeway at Sunset Boulevard. An undisclosed amount of money was recovered at the scene, sheriff’s officials said.

During Thursday’s FBI news conference, a group of banks also announced a reward of $20,000--$5,000 per person--for information leading to the arrests of the four robbers.

They largely target banks in supermarkets, said Wylie B. Cox, FBI special agent in charge. The Shop and Rob crew, allegedly responsible for 40 robberies, hit 32 such bank branches. Of 28 robberies allegedly committed by the Three B bandit, 20 were in supermarkets, FBI officials said. All of the robberies have occurred since March.

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Ismael is a Times staff writer in Los Angeles and Satzman a correspondent in Santa Clarita.