$10K reward for lunchtime bandit
The reward has doubled for information on the so-called lunchtime bandit, who local police have linked to as many as eight bank robberies in the last six weeks.
Wachovia Bank initially offered up to $5,000 for information leading to the man's capture, but dialed up the amount to a maximum of $10,000 on Tuesday, Dunwoody police spokesman Sgt. Michael Carlson.
Area banks, local police agencies and the FBI have compiled images of the of the lunchtime bandit's exploits on the bank-run Web site, GeorgiaBankRobbery.com, under the "serial robbers" page.
Twice in the week between Oct. 31 and Nov. 5, police believe the same man went into the Dunwoody Wachovia branch and gave tellers a note demanding money, before fleeing in a burgundy Chevrolet Tahoe.
The man also is believed to to have robbed Wachovia branches in Buckhead, in northwest Atlanta near Cumberland Mall in Cobb County, and in Roswell last month.
Police also have linked the man to a Dunwoody Bank of America last month, and one as recent as Saturday at a Fidelity Bank in Dunwoody.
A Suntrust branch in Sandy Springs also was targeted in late October, police said.
In each robbery, a slender white male described to be in his late 20s or early 30s, wearing some type of baseball cap pulled low over his face, was captured on video footage or described to police by witnesses.
And in most of the incidents, the robber followed the same methods: striking around lunchtime (between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., with only two exceptions), handing over a note with seemingly no weapons, and running away from the bank to the same Chevy SUV parked nearby.
Anyone with information about any of these robberies is asked to call either the FBI-Atlanta office at 404-679-9000 or Dunwoody police at 678-382-6921.
