Police in Montana arrested a man suspected of robbing a downtown Manhattan Beach bank last month, after he allegedly robbed a bank in Missoula a week later, according to authorities.
Vincent John Sullivan, 64, is also suspected of robbing a bank in New York — where he was dubbed the “Santa Clause bandit” due to a white beard — three days before the Manhattan Beach robbery, said Manhattan Beach Police Detective Michael Rosenberger.
“He does New York, then comes to Manhattan, then does Missoula,” Rosenberger said. “He used the same [method of operation] with a note each time.”
Sullivan allegedly entered the Chase Bank in downtown Manhattan Beach on the morning of Oct. 18 and passed a note to a teller that demanded money and claimed he had a gun. He was wearing a green New York Jets jersey with “Sanchez” written on the back, police said.
The bank’s surveillance camera picked up an image of the suspect, who fled on foot.
Local authorities later learned that Sullivan was staying at a motel in the city, and that a resident had given him a ride two days before the robbery.
“She pulled onto Highland and saw the guy wearing his Sanchez jersey,” Rosenberger said. “She knew Sanchez was a former USC player and said ‘Go Jets.’ Then he asked if she could give him a lift up the road a couple blocks.”
The woman picked Sullivan up near Bruce’s Beach and dropped him off a few blocks away near 32nd Street.
“He said he was going to meet a friend to watch football,” Rosenberger said.
On the morning of Oct. 26, Sullivan entered Sterling Savings Bank in Missoula and passed a note to a teller claiming he had a gun and demanding 50 and 100 dollar bills, according to Missoula Police Detective Lt. Steve Brester.
After taking off with the cash, Sullivan sat down to breakfast at a restaurant not far from the bank, authorities said. Missoula police had already begun canvassing the area with a photo taken from the bank’s surveillance camera.
“When we located the folks at the restaurant, they said he had just been in there about 10 minutes before,” Brester said.
Police tracked Sullivan to a hotel to which a waitress said he had asked to be taken by a taxicab. The Department of Justice happened to be holding a law enforcement training at the hotel that day.
Police arrested Sullivan when he exited the cab. The arrest involved all on-duty Missoula police officers, six detectives, Missoula County Sheriff’s Office deputies and some of the officers attending the training session at the hotel.
Brester said that the surveillance image from Chase Bank looks like the same man arrested in Missoula.
A Missoula judge set Sullivan’s bail at $100,000, which he did not post as of Wednesday. His hearing is set for Nov. 9.
Police did not know where Sullivan is from.
“The FBI will help with the case and eventually connect the dots between the incident here and at other locations,” Brester said. ER
