Investigators Think Same Suspect Robbed Banks in La Mesa, El Cajon and Now Clairemont Mesa

An unidentified man believed responsible for two recent East County bank robberies, one in La Mesa, struck again Wednesday, this time in Clairemont Mesa.

The thief, who appeared to be in his mid-50s, robbed a Bank of America branch in the 5800 block of Balboa Avenue shortly before 1 p.m., according to the FBI.

After the clerk handed over an undisclosed amount of cash, the bandit left the building and, according to a witness, fled in a silver car, police said.

Investigators think the same man robbed a US Bank branch in the 400 block of Fletcher Parkway in El Cajon on Tuesday, and a Wells Fargo branch in the 5600 block of Lake Murray Boulevard in La Mesa on July 5, the FBI reported.

During all three robberies, the perpetrator handed a teller a written message in which he demanded money and claimed to be armed with an unseen bomb.

Witnesses to the robberies described the thief as a roughly 5-foot-6- inch, 185-pound white man with tinted glasses, a ruddy complexion, acne scars, graying black hair, a goatee and a mustache.

-City News Service