This bandit works in fours

PETER BUFFA

Four is a lot. Bank robberies, that is. Four in one day is even more

impressive.

But what if all four bank robberies not only happened in the same

day, but were committed by the same person? Now that would really be

something.

OK, one more. Promise. What if the four bank robberies committed

by the same person in the same day all went down in less than four

hours? Now that would definitely warrant a whistle.

But yet again, truth is much stranger than fiction, because that’s

exactly what happened, just this week, in just this place. Allegedly.

On Thursday, at the Sandpiper Motel on Newport Boulevard, Costa

Mesa police nabbed the man who had been dubbed the “Quatro Bandit”

for his alleged propensity for doing things in sets of four. It’s a

poor choice of nicknames, in my opinion, since it’s neither Spanish

(cuatro) nor Italian (quattro), but that probably doesn’t bother

anyone but me. His real name is James McKibbin, 34. Until recently,

he was an extended-stay resident of the Sandpiper Motel, but he’s

currently a guest of the county of Orange.

Mr. Quatro got to enjoy his loot and his freedom for one whole

day. His alleged high-speed crime spree was sprung on Wednesday, and

Costa Mesa’s finest dropped by his motel to say “hi” on Thursday.

The police believe that McKibbin started his nonworkday on

Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. at a Washington Mutual in Westminster then

made a nonconforming withdrawal from a Washington Mutual in

Huntington Beach two hours later. He must have been disappointed in

the service at Washington Mutual because he allegedly robbed a Union

Bank in Tustin a half hour later. He apparently decided to give

Washington Mutual another chance though, finishing his day at the

Washington Mutual on 17th Street in Costa Mesa, which is a lot of

shucking and jiving and robbing in less than four hours.

The beginning of the end for McKibbin came Thursday morning, when

newspapers and television stations all around the town ran a picture

captured on one of the banks’ surveillance cameras. Surveillance

photos are usually so bad you can hardly tell if the bad guy is a

man, a woman or a brown bear on its hind legs.

Unfortunately for McKibbin, to a police informant, the photo was

as clear as a mountain stream in the Sierras. He could use it for a

passport photo when he gets out (that is, if he goes in), and I’ll

bet it’s way better than his driver’s license photo.

There he was, at the counter, your average, middle-aged white guy

-- no mask, no cap, no sunglasses -- just his face, crystal clear,

and it didn’t take long for someone to recognize the rapid robber.

That person called the FBI, who in turn called the Costa Mesa police

and asked them to stop by the Sandpiper when they had a chance.

McKibbin was arrested without incident and was charged with six

counts of federal bank robbery. Why six? Because McKibbin is also a

suspect in the May 25 robbery of the Bank of America on Via Lido and

in the June 2 robbery of the Union Bank on Placentia Avenue.

Except for the dizzying pace, everything about McKibbin’s brief

but spectacular alleged career was typical of today’s bank robbers

and bank robberies -- a handwritten note, no weapon and not much of a

haul.

There are a lot of bank jobs across the country -- about 7,500 a

year in recent years -- but the average take is only about $4,700.

The big heist, where a highly skilled, finely tuned band of meanies

cleans out the vault and carries away bag after bag of cash makes for

a great movie plot, but it very rarely happens in real life.

According to FBI statistics, about one-third of bank robbers carry

weapons, 2% of robberies result in injuries, and someone dies in 1

out of every 500 robberies -- usually it’s the robber.

Bank robbers tend to be on the lowest rung of the bad-guy food

chain, no better at robbing banks than they are at holding a job, and

desperate for cash, either for financial reasons or to feed an

addiction. If they did it once, they’d have a good chance of getting

away with it. But not unlike potato chips, nobody can rob just one.

Two-thirds of bank robbers who get caught are serial robbers.

For the banks themselves, robberies are a delicate subject --

serious, but not the end of the world. Banks lose about $70 million a

year in robberies, but they lose ten times as much -- about $700

million a year -- in forged checks.

You don’t need a huge brain to know how to stop bank robberies.

Just put the tellers behind a thick wall and bulletproof glass.

That’s how it works in most other countries, by the way.

But we Americans like the open, neighborly, “Hi, Mr. Wilson,” “Oh,

hi, Jeannie, how are you?” approach much better.

Unlike the robbers, though, the banks have learned a lot over the

years, such as keeping much less cash on hand. And whatever is on

hand is much tougher to get at. The anti-bad-guy technology also gets

better and better -- with silent alarms, dye packs, digital security

cameras and even bills and coins with GPS transponders implanted in

them that signal every move the robber makes.

Speaking of other countries, the average age and the average take

in bank robberies in Europe seems to be considerably higher than

here. A trio of bank robbers in Germany called the Grandpa Gang was

convicted this week of 14 robberies committed over the last 16 years,

netting more than $1.2 million. Ach du lieber.

Rudolf Richter, 74, was sentenced to nine years in prison, and

Wilfried Ackermann, 73, to 10 years. The wet-nosed kid of the group,

64-year old Lothar Ackermann -- no relation to Wilfried -- was given

12 years.

“It’s unbelievable how easy it is to rob a bank once you’ve done

it a couple of times,” Wilfried Ackermann said.

Apparently. Just drop the Fosamax and nobody will get hurt.

So there you have it. Quatro and the Grandpa Gang. Next time

you’re in the bank, stay alert and keep an eye on everyone around

you. Try to stay away from anyone who is running, covered with bright

blue dye, or over 60.

I gotta go.

* PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs

Sundays. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].