Suspected Serial Bank Robber Arrested in Cypress
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LOS ALAMITOS — A man suspected of robbing two banks at least six times in the last four months was arrested Friday by police who said they believe he was about to do it again.
Shortly before 11 a.m., Thomas Salvador Medina, 38, was seen standing in a shopping center in Cypress, where the Union Bank on Ball Road has been robbed three times, police said. A Los Alamitos police officer recognized Medina from bank surveillance photographs, police said.
Officials said Medina is a transient who has been frequenting the Hawaiian Gardens area. He was arrested without incident and booked into Orange County Jail.
The series of robberies in Cypress and Los Alamitos began Jan. 24 at the Downey Savings on Ball Road, which is on the opposite corner from Union Bank at Ball Road and Bloomfield Street. The last robbery occurred Wednesday, police said.
In all six incidents, police said, the robber used handwritten notes or verbal threats to demand money, and an undisclosed amount of cash was taken each time. There were no injuries.
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