‘Geezer Bandit’ a new folk hero

LOS ANGELES – Entrepreneurs are printing surveillance shots of his wrinkled face on T-shirts, thousands of people “Like” him on Facebook and many are wishing him continued success at evading the law.

To his legion of fans, the “Geezer Bandit” is a bank-robbing old man with a quirky nickname whose popularity only seems to grow with each heist.

But authorities trying to track him down say there is nothing light-hearted about the doddering robber.

They say he is an armed and dangerous menace who leaves bank tellers terrified and could strike at any time. He might even be someone younger disguised under a lifelike special-effects mask.

In a region the FBI has dubbed the bank robbery capital of the world, where stickups still occur on an almost daily basis, the “Geezer Bandit” case has captured the public’s interest like few others in recent memory.

And for now at least, the aging robber is showing no signs of retiring.

On Jan. 28, authorities say the blazer-clad geezer struck at a Bank of America branch in Goleta, a city northwest of Los Angeles. Witnesses estimated him to be between 60 and 70 years old.

It was the farthest he’d roamed from San Diego County, where he is suspected of robbing 11 banks starting in August 2009. He is also believed to have robbed a Bank of America in Bakersfield, bringing the total tally to 13.

A typical posting on one of the two Facebook pages set up to honor the crook exhorts him to “Run Geezer Run!”

Hoping to make a quick buck, several people have designed T-shirts, mugs and other paraphernalia with the robber’s image from surveillance footage. It’s not clear how many have actually been purchased.

The fascination with bank robbers goes back generations in America.

University of California, Los Angeles, sociology professor David Halle said some people derive satisfaction from seeing large institutions under attack.

“There is a long tradition of not liking banks in the U.S.,” Halle said. “They have been unpopular for ages and now they are unpopular again for obvious reasons. (The ‘Geezer Bandit’) is not robbing old ladies.”

FBI Special Agent Steve May is appalled by the bandit’s elevation to antihero status.

“I am totally not a fan of that,” said May, who has spent 11 years tracking bank robbers. “Those tellers … they are scared to death. They are worried that person is going to come back again and kill them.”

Adding to the case’s interest is the possibility that the elderly-looking robber is not old at all. The theory gained traction after a white Ohio man admitted to robbing several banks while wearing a mask that made him appear to be black.

If it turns out that the robber’s geezer credentials are real, he is part of a rare but persistent demographic of older bank robbers. Bank heists usually are committed by men younger than 50, but there are plenty of exceptions.

In October, authorities snagged a man suspected of being the “Golden Years Bandit” when they arrested William McCormick Jr., 59, on suspicion of robbing five banks in the Los Angeles region.

A year earlier, “Baby Boomer Bandit” suspect Salvador Sanchez, 64, was arrested on suspicion of carrying out several robberies in Pasadena.

The FBI in Houston said that Theresa Mary Gaas, who was 56 at the time of her 2009 arrest, robbed two banks, earning her the nickname of “Grandma Bandit.”

The Los Angeles area currently has its own robber with the same moniker. The local “Grandma Bandit,” a frail, straw hat-wearing woman in her 60s, is still at large, most recently robbing a bank in Palm Springs.

The unlikely image of an older person robbing a bank at gunpoint may help them escape.

In the “Geezer Bandit” robberies, his frail gait and inconspicuous manner attracted little attention. Often, the only person aware that a robbery was taking place was the teller.