Bank of America 'Tourist Bandit' Tied to Weho Robbery

The FBI believe that a man who held up a Bank of America in Venice Wednesday was probably the same person who robbed the  on Monday. The suspect, described as a white man in his late 40s, has been dubbed "The Tourist Bandit." 

Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles field office, explained the reasoning behind the man's moniker. "He held up banks in areas popular with sightseers and was wearing souvenir clothing," she said. 

In West Hollywood, he wore a hooded UCLA sweatshirt, and in Venice he wore a Venice Beach sweatshirt. In both cases, the suspect told bank employees he had a bomb, she said. 

Images (at right) from the banks' surveillance cameras seem to show the same man. "The MO is very similar, and the description is very similar," said Eimiller. "It appears to be the same individual."

Between 70 and 80 percent of bank robbers in this FBI district are eventually caught, Eimiller said.

"We've always had a very high success rate in solving bank robberies, especially if the bank robbers keep robbing banks," she said.

City News Service contributed to this story.

Follow West Hollywood Patch on Twitter and Facebook for more updates, tips and news.