Robber’s M.O.: Same Day, Time, Teller for Job

Forget manic Mondays. A Tustin bank teller is having tense Tuesdays, having been robbed two weeks in a row at about the same time by the same bandit.

“If she is there next Tuesday, I imagine it will be a stressful day,” said Julie McWilliams, a special agent with the FBI in Santa Ana.

On Feb. 6, a man in his mid- to late 40s walked into the California Federal Bank on 17th Street about 2:30 p.m. and handed the teller a note demanding money.

“He either gestured or reached toward his hip,” McWilliams said, “leading her to believe that he was armed.”

A week later, the same man approached the same teller with a similar note. Once again, McWilliams said, he got away with the money.

The man--described as white, 5 feet, 7 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall with a medium build and grayish-blond hair with a receding hairline--escaped with an undisclosed amount of money. Investigators dubbed him the Comb-Over Bandit in reference to his hair, apparently styled to cover a bald patch. “That was the first thing that everybody noticed about him,” McWilliams said.

The bank’s management would not comment on the robberies or identify the employee held up. “We have to respect the poor teller’s privacy,” said Janice Tarter, a company spokeswoman.