Police: ‘Coach’ robs bank

The “Assistant Coach Bandit” isn’t exactly ready to call for a time out. But the cops are ready to blow the whistle on him as he hit another bank Tuesday.

Authorities are looking for a man who robbed a bank in Costa Mesa Tuesday morning and made off with $1,500 in cash, according to police. FBI officials believe it’s the same man who has robbed at least five other banks in Southern California in recent months, and is dubbed the “Assistant Coach Bandit” because he wears a baseball cap when he holds up banks. Police suspect he robbed a Downey Savings Bank in Huntington Beach Aug. 20.

Officers described the man as between 30 and 35 years old, clean-shaven with black hair, wearing a cap and a red T-shirt with a logo. The robbery happened about 11 a.m. at the Washington Mutual on East 17th Street when the man reportedly gave a note to a teller, took $1,500 in cash in a plastic grocery bag and ran northbound on Orange Avenue, according to police.

Investigators said no one saw a weapon. Several employees were overheard saying they did not know the bank was being robbed. No one was injured, police said. The bank reopened a few hours later.

Tuesday’s bank robbery is only one of many authorities have seen through the summer. A bank was robbed in La Habra Tuesday as well, and a bank in Los Alamitos was robbed Thursday. A First Bank was robbed in Newport Beach in late July. FBI officials said they have seen more heists this year than usual in the Los Angeles office’s seven-county area, but said it’s too early to call it a trend.

“We can see dramatic increases and decreases throughout the year,” said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. “But since 1992, we’ve seen an overall decline. We were at an all-time low last year, so this [looks] to be an average year.”

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].