'Hipster Bandit' Bank Robber Arrested in San Diego: FBI

San Diego, CA — The man believed to be the Hipster Bandit, wanted for a string of bank robberies in San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties, was arrested Thursday.

William Conn Robertson II, a 27-year-old former Army sniper who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was taken into custody Thursday morning at his Serra Mesa apartment in the 3300 block of Ruffin Road, according to the FBI.

The FBI had announced a $20,000 reward on Friday for information leading to the arrest of the Hipster Bandit, nicknamed so because of his trendy clothing and youthful appearance.

The following day, San Diego County Crime Stoppers received an anonymous tip identifying Robertson as the perpetrator, according to a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California.

Based on evidence gathered during a search of the suspect's residence and over the course of investigations into the crimes, which began in La Mesa last July, authorities charged Robertson Monday afternoon with a single county of bank robbery stemming from a heist that occurred at a Wells Fargo bank branch in Scripps Ranch on Nov. 2.

The most recent holdups in the series occurred July 2, when the thief struck twice, once each in Carlsbad and Mission Viejo. On April 1, he committed a holdup in Temecula, the FBI reported. All but two of the crimes occurred in the San Diego area, officials said.

The serial robber targeted banking desks in supermarkets, generally using demand notes. In some instances, witnesses reported seeing him strolling the aisles of targeted stores prior to committing robberies.

In one case, the bandit fled in a blue SUV, and on another occasion he made his getaway aboard a late-model black motorcycle, possibly a Harley- Davidson or Triumph.

FBI agents conducting surveillance of Robertson's apartment on Monday watched him arrived there aboard a black Harley-Davidson Sportster without license plates on it, according to the court document.

The suspect, who served as an infantryman before being deployed as a sniper, moved to San Diego following his honorable discharge from the Army and found employment engraving guns, the federal complaint states.

— City News Service contributed to this report.

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