Blue Note Bank Bandit Strikes Yet Again

Laguna Woods - The prolific "Blue Note" bandit held up his 15th bank Tuesday afternoon, according to an Orange County sheriff's spokesman.

The robber hit a Home Savings of America branch at 24380 Moulton Parkway in Laguna Woods about 4 p.m., sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The robber walked up to a teller with a note demanding currency in large denominations, according to Amormino, who declined to say how much money was taken in the heist.

"He's the most prolific bank robbery probably in Southern California," Amormino said of the bandit, who got his nickname because he handed a teller a demand note on blue paper in one of his earliest holdups.

The robber also struck about 2 p.m. Sunday, holding up a U.S. Bank branch inside a Ralphs supermarket at Golden Lantern and Del Avion in Dana Point, Amormino said.

No weapon was seen in that holdup, but the robber indicated he was armed, according to Amormino.

No one has been hurt in any of the robberies.

As he did Sunday and in his first holdup, the bandit wore a black fedora, Amormino said. It's possible he's switched to the fedora after authorities disseminated surveillance video of him wearing a ball cap, Amormino said.

Rewards totaling $20,000 are being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the robber.

He wore a white long-sleeved shirt, dark pants and light-colored shoes in this afternoon's holdup, said Amormino, who asked anyone who may have seen the robber make his getaway to call investigators at (866) TIP-OCSD.

The bandit appears to work alone. He typically wears a cap and sunglasses and goes about his stickups "methodically," FBI Special Agent Pete Angelini has said.

The suspect hands the teller a note demanding "large bills" and threatens the victim if he or she doesn't move fast enough for his liking.

Witnesses have described the suspect as having crooked, gapped teeth. He is white and tanned and appears to be in his 40s, with brown hair, an average build, about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds.

He has also been linked to robberies at:

• California Bank and Trust in San Juan Capistrano on Nov. 30;
• a Chase Bank branch in Costa Mesa on Dec. 1;
• a U.S. Bank branch in Aliso Viejo on Dec. 2;
• a Chase Bank branch in Dana Point on Dec. 7;
• a Wachova branch in Irvine on Dec. 15;
• Nuvision Federal Credit Union in Laguna Hills on Dec. 16;
• a Bank of America branch in Irvine on Dec. 21;
• a Wells Fargo branch inside a Stater Bros. in Lake Forest on Dec. 28;
• a La Jolla Bank in Mission Viejo on Dec. 30;
• a California Bank and Trust branch in Monarch Beach on Jan. 6;
• a Pacific Western Bank branch in Dana Point on Jan. 11;
• a First Bank and Trust branch in Laguna Niguel on Jan. 22; and
• a U.S. Bank branch at 2300 Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa on Feb. 1.