Robbery Suspect’s Standoff Leads to Freeway Holdup

Authorities stopped traffic on southbound Interstate 5 between Oceanside and San Clemente for more than two hours Friday as police waited for a bank robbery suspect to surrender.

The standoff caused a 20-mile traffic jam on the freeway. With nowhere to go, some drivers relaxed on the shoulder, even setting up lawn chairs and trying to get a better view of the police standoff.

David Raymond, 42, was in custody late Friday at the Carlsbad jail.

He is a suspect in five bank robberies in the Oceanside area, FBI spokeswoman Erika Foxworth said.

The robber was nicknamed the Two-Dollar Bill Bandit because he asked for small bills during his crimes and was given a lot of $2 bills, Foxworth said.

According to the FBI, Raymond walked into the Bank of America in the 2500 block of El Camino Real in Carlsbad about noon.

He seemed nervous, and a security guard thought he recognized him from a previous robbery, investigators said.

The guard called police.

Officers chased the suspect on Carlsbad streets, then onto California 78 west and I-5 north at speeds as fast as 100 mph, police said.

Raymond drove through the agricultural checkpoint near San Onofre, turned around and headed south on the freeway, investigators said.

He then pulled to the shoulder at Harbor Drive north of Oceanside and pointed a gun at police, then to his own head.

After negotiating with Carlsbad police over a cell phone tossed to him by an officer protected by a shield, Raymond surrendered about 3 p.m., Foxworth said.

A nickel-plated .380-caliber pistol was found in his car, the FBI said.

In the Oceanside stickups, the robber wielded a silver gun.

Raymond is scheduled for arraignment Monday on at least one count of bank robbery, Foxworth said.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.