Storied Detective Sent to Prison as Serial Bank Robber

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA — A retired LAPD Detective with a gambling habit was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for a series of Orange County bank robberies, earning him the moniker the Snowbird Bandit.

Randolph Bruce Adair, 70, of Rancho Santa Margarita, pleaded guilty robbing a Rancho Santa Margarita bank and brandishing a gun in the heist as part of a plea deal. He was indicted in August on charges of robbing five Orange County banks, but the additional charges were dropped as part of the deal.

Adair admitted to the May 22 robbery of First Citizens Bank branch in the 29800 block of Santa Margarita Parkway in Ranch Santa Margarita. He got away with $1,190 in that heist, according to his plea deal.

Adair also was charged with:

--A March 20 robbery of $1,731 at a California Bank and Trust branch in the 24000 block of Camino Del Avion in Dana Point.

--A June 11 stickup of a Wells Fargo Bank branch in the 24400 block of Alicia Parkway in Mission Viejo that netted $944.

--A July 6 heist of about $3,600 at a U.S. Bank branch in the 100 block of Corporate Drive in Ladera Ranch.

--A July 21 robbery of $1,658 from the First Citizens Bank branch in the at 29800 block of Rancho Margarita Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita, the same bank Adair admitted to robbing in May.

Adair is accused of brandishing a firearm during the May 22, June 11, and July 6 robberies, the indictment alleges.

After authorities circulated video surveillance photos of the suspect, the defendant’s family called investigators and said Adair “is retired, on a fixed income, and a heavy gambler,” according to FBI Special Agent Chris Gicking.

Adair worked for the Los Angeles Police Department from December 1967 to October 1988.

When Adair was shown surveillance video photos of the Snowbird Bandit, he said, “I’m cooked. I think I should have a lawyer,” according to Gicking.

According to Gicking, when Adair was being arrested, authorities found $1,120 in Del Mar race track betting receipts on the defendant. His arresting officers also found a $300 cash deposit receipt in his wife’s bank account and a receipt for a $100 cash deposit in his own account. All of the receipts were dated July 22.

Investigators also recovered a tan fedora and light-green, button-up shirt in a storage locker of the defendant’s that matches what the Snowbird Bandit is seen wearing in surveillance video, according to the FBI.

The FBI coined the Snowbird Bandit moniker based on the suspect’s age and appearance.

Adair told the Orange County Register in 1998 that as a rookie cop, he was among the officers who responded to the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles following the assassination of presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy, and witnessed the arrest of gunman Sirhan Sirhan.

He told the paper he helped control the crowd while officers cuffed Sirhan. Relatives said Adair escorted Kennedy’s wife and astronaut John Glenn to the hospital where the senator was taken.

Adair’s family members told the Register that he rescued seven people from a burning low-income home around 1970. They also said he worked on the Freeway Strangler and Night Stalker serial murder cases, and has had a series of heart attacks in the past couple of years.

Multiple friends of Adair wrote letters to U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton imploring mercy for the defendant. Many of those friends praised his character and speculated that his deteriorating physical health may have played a role in his crimes.

"As a 'second' father, Mr. Adair was a man who I knew I could count on to be there for me no matter what I needed," wrote Sarah Davenport, who was best friends with Adair's daughter.

Davenport said Adair was a constant presence in his daughter's life, particularly when she faced a host of health-related problems.

"He always stressed the importance of 'doing the right' thing and how important it was for our futures," Davenport said. "The situation he finds himself in now is truly tragic, as it speaks more to his deteriorated health and well-being than of the man he actually is."

Bob and Pat White, who said they have known Adair for more than 30 years, wrote a letter to the judge saying the defendant "has had many health challenges in recent years and has been close to death on many occasions."

They added, "We remember Randy as a good-hearted, well-intentioned, hard-working, stand-up man in the days when our families were growing up."

William Pankey, the defendant's friend of 50 years going back to high school, described Adair as a "person of good character" who was "loyal" to his family.

"I cannot comprehend what could have changed in Randy's mental state that would have allowed him to commit bank robbery," Pankey wrote.

Other longtime friends, Randy and Sally Jo Clark, said Adair's "health has deteriorated due to several serious heart attacks and other health issues... Perhaps his declining health affected him mentally and contributed to his actions, which were so contrary to his character and value system."

City News Service and Patch staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.