Police Nab 'Sharp-Dressed Bandit' Suspect in Bank Robberies

A bank robbery suspect was taken into custody Wednesday night by the Arlington County Police Department, with assistance from the FBI Washington Field Office and Alexandria Police Department, at his residence in the 1400 block of N. Scott Street in Arlington.

Sunny Parekh, 30, of Arlington, was arrested and charged with bank robbery. He is being held without bail, according to Arlington County Police.

The first bank robbery took place in Arlington, according to police. At approximately 3:59 p.m. on Nov. 10, 2014, the Arlington County Emergency Communications Center was alerted of a bank robbery that had just taken place at the Presidential Bank, located in the 900 block of N. Stuart Street. The suspect entered the bank just prior to closing time and handed a teller a note that demanded money and implied he had a weapon. The teller gave the suspect an undisclosed amount of money and the subject fled towards Ballston Metro Center.

An online crime reporting service utilized by the City of Alexandria Police notes that the same suspect, dubbed the “Sharp Dressed Bandit,” was also a suspect in the Wednesday, Dec. 10 robbery of a bank in Old Town Alexandria, where he threatened to use a bomb, according to a report on RAIDS Online.

Authorities say the man is also a suspect in a bank robbery near Dupont Circle in DC. Previous reports by the FBI about the suspect make mention of a weapon in the Alexandria and DC robberies, but no specifics were given.

The suspect, dubbed the “Sharp-Dressed Bandit,” favored sunglasses, suits, scarves, a briefcase or laptop bag and a pea coat, and was wanted in the hold-up of three banks, according to authorities:

• Monday, Nov. 10: at about 4 p.m., Presidential Bank, Ballston
• Thursday, Dec. 4: at about 3:56 p.m., Premier Bank, near Dupont Circle in DC
• Wednesday, Dec. 10: at about 4:30 p.m., Wells Fargo Bank, Old Town Alexandria

The suspect’s description was that he was possibly a Middle Eastern male having short black hair and unshaven and being between 6’ and 6’5” tall, according to the FBI report.

The FBI featured the suspect at the top of its national page of bank robberies that have taken place across the country.

The FBI was offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to the identification, arrest and conviction of this bank robber. No word on whether someone tipped off police.

After months of police investigation and collaboration with partner law enforcement agencies, Parekh was identified as the primary suspect. Officers took the subject into custody without incident and he is being held at the Arlington County Detention Facility.

“The closing of this case by our investigators was the direct result of outstanding work by our patrol officers and the leveraging of the resources of our FBI and Alexandria colleagues with whom we work closely on a daily basis,” commented Daniel J. Murray, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Investigations Division.

PHOTO of suspect courtesy of the FBI