Man Robs 3 Burbank Banks in 30 Minutes

BURBANK — Police recall a handful of bank robberies in Burbank for all of last year. But on Wednesday, there were three in one day.

“But it’s one guy that is doing this,” Burbank Police Lt. Tim Stehr said. “It’s not like it’s three separate robbers.”

The three robberies all occurred within 30 minutes, and not more than about a mile apart. In each case, a man brandished a handgun and demanded money, Stehr said.

In the first heist, at 11:02 a.m., a man approached a teller at the Downey Savings branch inside a Ralphs supermarket at 2600 W. Victory Blvd.

Sixteen minutes later, about a mile away, the Fidelity Federal Bank at 1090 N. San Fernando Road was robbed by a man with a gun.

Eight minutes later, and just a few blocks away, a robber held up the First Coastal Bank at 333 N. Glenoaks Blvd.

Police would not say how much money was taken, or if they had a description of a possible getaway vehicle.

“Three in one day is extremely high for us,” said Stehr, who estimated that the city had perhaps five bank robberies in all of last year.

As police investigated one of the holdups, a man attempted to steal a car from an area crawling with police officers, said Sgt. Robert Quesada. Police momentarily thought they had their man, he said, but the theft proved to be unrelated.