(Source: The Oakland Tribune)
By Harry Harris, The Oakland Tribune, Calif.
May 13--A 49-year-old man already suspected of robbing seven Bay Area banks this month was arrested today robbing an Oakland Chinatown bank branch, police said.
Police said the suspect, Bryan K. Richardson, was arrested at noon by officers William Pappas and Robert Supriano of the Police and Corrections Team (PACT) inside the United Commercial Bank branch at 900 Webster St.
The suspected getaway driver, another 49-year-old man whose name was not immediately released, was arrested in a car less than a half-block away.
Since May 4, Richardson had been identified as a primary suspect in seven other bank robberies, including three in San Leandro, two in Oakland, one in San Francisco and one at a Dublin Bank of America branch Tuesday afternoon.
Both of the Oakland banks that Richardson is suspected of robbing previously were in Chinatown, including The Bank of the Orient on 12th Street and the Bank of East Asia on Ninth Street.
In the robberies, Richardson would walk up to a teller with his hand wrapped in a piece of clothing to suggest he had a gun, police said. He would say to tellers he was there to rob them and demand money, saying if they didn't turn it over he would shoot them, police added.
Because of the frequency of the robberies and because Richardson was identified as a parolee at large, officers of the Targeted Enforcement Task Force and PACT officers have been staking out Chinatown.
TETF officer Omega Crum
spotted Richardson entering the bank and Supriano and Pappas went inside and made the arrest.
Investigators said they suspect Richardson was committing robberies to support a drug habit.
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