Suspected ‘Goofy Hat Bandit’ is arrested

Authorities have arrested the man they suspect is the “Goofy Hat Bandit,” believed responsible for robbing nearly 40 banks throughout the Southland, including one in Costa Mesa in September.

William Vance Turner, 56, was arrested in a parking lot Wednesday morning near his Ladera Heights residence, the FBI said. He was suspected of holding up the Citibank branch on Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa.

Turner was in violation of his parole when he was caught Wednesday morning, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

The bandit earned the nickname “Goofy Hat Bandit” because during robberies he always wore some kind of hat, from fedoras to baseball caps.

FBI authorities said Turner served about nine years in federal prison in the ‘90s when he was known as the “Pershing Square Bandit” for robbing nearly 30 banks in Los Angeles.

— Heidi Schultheis