Bank Holdup Suspect Is Killed After Pursuit

A bank robbery suspect known to the FBI as the “Old-Timer Bandit” was shot to death Thursday by an Arcadia police detective after robbing two banks, crashing his car and pointing a gun at the detective, officials said.

The FBI said the suspect, identified as 63-year-old Pete Nick Thoma, always wore a battered gray fishing cap and had held up at least four banks in the northwest San Gabriel Valley in the last 10 days. Those included robberies at a California National Bank branch in Arcadia about 11:45 a.m. Thursday and at a Bank of America branch in Pasadena about an hour later.

“The description was the same, the M.O. was the same,” said FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley.. Arcadia police said that about 90 minutes after the Pasadena robbery, a detective spotted a dark Nissan sedan at 1st Avenue and Alta Street in Arcadia that matched the description of the car seen speeding away after both of Thursday’s robberies. Police said the driver matched the description of the Old-Timer Bandit.

Activating the red light and siren in his unmarked car, the detective gave chase. The suspect accelerated south on 2nd Avenue, racing through a quiet residential neighborhood at up to 70 mph, said Arcadia Police Lt. Ron Buckholtz.

The suspect continued south into an unincorporated area, where 2nd turns into Tyler Avenue. Tyler ends in an El Monte cul-de-sac, ringed by a cinder-block wall, beside the Rio Hondo. “He came down Tyler, and he crashed into that wall,” Buckholtz said. “He got out and tried to jump the wall, but he couldn’t make it. He turned around and faced the officer, gun in hand, and the detective fired several shots.”

At least two of the shots struck the suspect, who died at the scene, police said. Officers said he apparently had not fired.

Tom Holland, who lives nearby, said the suspect must not have known that Tyler dead-ended. “If the guy knew the area, he wouldn’t have come down here,” he said.

The coroner’s office identified the dead man as Thoma, but did not know his hometown.

Bosley said the man is believed to have robbed at least two banks last week in the Arcadia-Pasadena area, although the details of those holdups were not immediately available.

“But everything was the same,” she said. “A man, 5 foot 6 to 5 foot 9, blue eyes, in his late 60s, short white hair, wearing a fishing hat.”

Bosley said that at 11:48 a.m. Thursday, a man walked into California National Bank at 1400 Baldwin Ave. in Arcadia, brandished a pistol and told a teller: “Keep smiling. I’m watching your hands. Give me all the money you have.”

Bosley said that after the teller complied, the man told the teller to pull the drawer all the way open. “The suspect said, ‘I want to know I got all the money,’ ” Bosley said.

The man then ran out and drove away, the FBI said.

At 12:39 p.m., about six miles to the west, the same man walked into the Bank of America branch at 800 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, approached a teller at gunpoint and again demanded money, Bosley said.

“He told the teller, ‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ ” she said.

Bosley said the man also told the teller not to put in any dye packs -- devices used to stain holdup money to make it harder to use and easier to identify.

As in the earlier heist, the robber then ran to a car and drove away, Bosley said.