Bank Teller Robbed Twice by Same Man

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 white man in his mid- to late 40s with grayish-blond hair and a receding hairline walked into the California Federal Bank on 17th Street 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.” The man 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.

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