"Bearded Bandit" Now Considered A Federal Case

MARTINEZ - Instead of making his initial court appearance in Contra Costa County, the alleged serial bank robber dubbed the "Bearded Bandit" will be appearing in federal court later this week, prosecutors said Monday.

Kenneth Ellis, who is accused of stealing about $27,000 from 11 Northern California banks to pay his bills, is slated for a hearing in an Oakland courtroom on Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Ellis, a 30-year-old Stockton resident, was arrested Wednesday in Brentwood and was immediately charged by the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office in connection with bank robberies in Concord and Lafayette.

Also on Patch: FBI Reveals Identity Of The 'Bearded Bandit'

He was scheduled to appear in a Martinez courtroom Monday morning to be arraigned on those charges, but instead will head to federal court in Oakland to be arraigned there Thursday morning after the FBI filed a criminal complaint against him.

The complaint filed Friday provided additional details about the approach Ellis used during the alleged robbery spree, as well as his motive, which he said was "extreme financial difficulty."

After his arrest Wednesday, he told Concord police investigators that he used the money from the bank robberies to pay his bills, according to court documents.

According to the documents, during interviews he confessed to the 11 bank robberies that occurred starting Feb. 12, along with other "casing" incidents in which he entered banks that he did not immediately rob.

A March 11 robbery at a Wells Fargo bank located at 4599 Clayton Road in Concord was described in the documents.

A man approached a bank teller and presented a note that read, "No die (sic) packs, no silent alarms, no tracking devices, this is a robbery, keep quiet."

A similar note was used during a robbery at a Chase Bank branch at 3492 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette on March 21, the last day of the alleged spree, according to court documents.

The notes were discarded after each incident, Ellis allegedly told investigators.

He also said he discarded various clothing -- purchased at Goodwill -- that he wore during the robberies, according to court documents.

Ellis was arrested after a citizen reported seeing him with his signature full, trimmed beard in a Brentwood Safeway on Wednesday.

Brentwood police officers did not immediately find Ellis at the Safeway, but the Mustang he was suspected of using was located in the parking lot, police said.

Police said he came back to the vehicle after trying to ditch his distinctive look, shaving his head bald and shaving his beard into a goatee.

The officers eventually conducted a traffic stop on him and he surrendered peacefully.

Besides the two Contra Costa County incidents, he's suspected of robberies in Solano, Alameda and Santa Clara counties, along with Bay Area-neighboring Monterey, Yolo and Sacramento counties.

-Bay City News, image via Lafayette Police Department