The Cupertino Courier

News

Area hit by rash of armed bank robberies

By HUGH BIGGAR

At 5:57 p.m., just before closing time July 12, police say a man propped open the door of a Bank of America branch in Cupertino with an old car tire, entered the bank wearing a mask and used a handgun to rob two tellers of $37,386 in cash.

The robbery is one of a series of armed bank robberies in the region during the last several months. According to Capt. John Hirokawa of the Santa Clara County ,Sheriff's Office, there have been at least six such robberies in Cupertino, Saratoga and San Jose. There was also one brazen robbery attempt just across the street from the sheriff's office westside substation in Cupertino where Hirokawa works.

In addition to the July 12 Bank of America robbery at 20563 Stevens Creek Boulevard, there was another Cupertino bank robbery on Stevens Creek Boulevard June 2. During that robbery, a man entered a different bank and forcibly took $13,500 from three tellers. On May 20, a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and green bandana over his face, tried to enter a Bank of America branch on S. De Anza Boulevard three minutes after closing time. Finding the doors locked, police say the man then fled on foot. In yet another incident Jan. 3, a man entered a Cupertino bank, pointed a gun at a teller and gave her a note written in Mandarin requesting $20,000. The teller gave the man a bundle of $100 bills and a bundle of $20 bills.

Hirokawa said the sheriff's office is so far uncertain if the robberies are connected and said there have been few leads. In two of the Cupertino robberies, police describe the suspect as, "a dark skinned male, approximately, 6 feet tall and in his 30s." No arrests have been made.

"It's unusual and we don't know what's behind it," Hirokawa said of the rash of robberies.

Individuals with information about the July 12 robbery or other bank robberies are asked to call the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office investigative unit at 408.808.4500.