‘Green Gaiter’ Serial Robber Strikes Near San Juan Capistrano

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — Police asked San Juan Capistrano residents for help locating a man dubbed the “Green Gaiter Bandit,” whom the FBI believed was involved in nine bank robberies and five attempted robberies in Orange and Los Angeles counties, the FBI announced this week.

The FBI created the moniker for the suspected serial bank robber because he sometimes wears a green face mask or neck covering. The Green Gaiter Bandit, who is usually also clad in “a variation of workwear-style clothing,” first struck in October and has been linked to nine robberies and five attempted robberies across the neighboring counties over the past three months, including a robbery at a US Bank in Mission Viejo Jan. 7.

The suspect is also wanted in connection with bank robberies in Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Fullerton.

“It should be noted that the suspect wears a variety of gaiters covering his neck and face in different banks on different dates, including a green one,” the FBI said. “He has also worn gaiters or a mask in other colors or designs as witnesses have described and as bank surveillance photos illustrate.”

The robber usually gives a bank teller a note demanding money and sometimes asks for cash or “loose bills,” the FBI said.

“After receiving the cash or an attempt, the suspect has been seen fleeing the bank on foot,” the FBI said.

The FBI described the man as white, between 50 and 60 years old and roughly 6 feet tall, with a “medium to heavy build” and gray hair.

The FBI, the Orange County Sheriff's Department and police departments in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Gardena, Placentia and Torrance are all searching for the suspect.

Anyone with information about the identity of the Green Gaiter Bandit or his location was asked to call the FBI at 310-477-6565.