1 of 4 Wanted in Bank Robberies Is Arrested

One of four robbers who have hit dozens of Southland banks since March apparently was arrested in Westwood today, after holding up a Wells Fargo in Valencia, but the other three may have struck again in Anaheim.

The “Three B” robber, who usually works with a getaway driver, was arrested on the San Diego Freeway by sheriff’s deputies who followed him from Valencia about noon, FBI spokesman John Hoos said.

An hour earlier, two men and a woman officials have dubbed the “Shop and Rob” bandits apparently hit a Union Bank in a Food-4-Less in Anaheim, Hoos said.

Together, the Three-B bandit and the Shop and Rob robbers are believed responsible for 68 holdups, most of them in supermarket banks, authorities said. The robberies have occurred in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

Hoos said the suspected Three B robber hit the Wells Fargo in Vons at 28850 The Old Road about two hours before a scheduled FBI news conference to ask for help in finding the four bandits.

FBI Agent Wylie D. Cox said the Three-B bandit normally used a note.

“The Shop and Rob bandits also display a weapon--generally it’s in a waistband--by pulling a jacket open.” He said they then present a demand note, get the money and walk out.

Cox said a $20,000 reward has been posted by Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, Washington Mutual Savings Bank and Downey Savings Bank.

Anyone with information should call WE TIP at (800) 78-CRIME or the FBI at (310) 477-6565.