LAPD, FBI hunt for 'Michael Jackson Bandit'
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LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Frustrated police and FBI agents asked for help from the public Tuesday as they hunted for the so-called "Michael Jackson Bandit" -- an elusive armed bank robber known for wearing a single glove.
Authorities have issued a reward for the suspect, who has so far pulled off 16 bank robberies in the Los Angeles area and say they are anxious to stop him before someone gets hurt.
"He's very threatening in his notes and in his oral demands, he uses profanity and threatens to kill his victims," FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley said. "A couple of times he's become agitated or nervous. This guy looks desperate and he's robbing at will."
Bosley said authorities began calling him the "Michael Jackson Bandit" after he showed up on one of his first heists wearing only one glove -- a habit most often associated with the onetime King of Pop.
But police say he bears no physical resemblance to the entertainer.
The robber was described by authorities as a thin black man with a light mustache and goatee who wears baggy clothes, a baseball cap and an earring in his left ear.
Bosley said the man typically enters banks alone carrying a black handgun and gives a threatening note to one of the tellers demanding large bills before leaving on foot. She declined to say how much money he has gotten away with so far but called it a "substantial amount."
"He's getting away with it but if he keeps robbing he'll get caught," Bosley said.
Bosley said the suspect's 16 bank robberies and aggressive behavior stand out even in Los Angeles, long called the "bank robbery capital of the world" by the FBI.
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