Wells Fargo offered a $5,000 reward Monday for information about a bank robber who has held up three San Diego County branches in just over a month. It includes including a heist he pulled off last week just hours after the FBI and local media published photographs of him online.
FBI officials are asking for public help to identify the man, who in each robbery used a demand note, carried a large black notebook or notebook cover and wore sunglasses paired with a hat or visor. The first robbery happened around 5:10p.m. on September 11 at the Wells Fargo branch near the corner of Balboa and Genesee avenues in Clairemont. The second happened around 3:05p.m. on October 6 at the Wells Fargo branch on North El Camino Real north of Encinitas Boulevard in Encinitas.
Tuesday, Oct. 16, the FBI’s San Diego field office published photographs of the suspect in those two robberies and sought the public’s help to identify him. About five hours later, at 3:40p.m., he robbed a third Wells Fargo branch on Palomar Airport Road just off Interstate 5 in Carlsbad.
“In this robbery, the male was observed fleeing the scene in a black sedan, possibly a Nissan Sentra,” FBI spokeswoman Special Agent Davene Butler said in a press release.In all three robberies, the man made off with undisclosed amounts of cash after presenting bank tellers with demand notes, Butler said. The man has never used a weapon or threatened to use one in his notes. Authorities describe the suspect as a 6-foot-2-inch, athletically built white man in his mid-40's to early 60's. He appears to be clean-shaven, with short dark hair that’s graying. He has worn dark sunglasses during all three heists, with a white visor during the first robbery in Clairemont, and dark hats during the second two.
During each robbery, he’s worn an untucked polo shirt or button-down dress shirt, and carried what appears to be black folder about the size of an 8-by-11 inch notebook or small laptop. Following the third robbery, Wells Fargo offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.
Anyone with information about the identity or whereabouts of the suspect was asked to call the San Diego FBI office at (858) 320-1800 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers’ anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477. Tipsters can also submit information online at www.fbi.gov/tips or www.sdcrimestoppers.org.
Photo Credit: FBI San Diego