SAN DIEGO - A bank robber ran away empty handed Friday when he tried to hold up a Bank of America branch in Carmel Valley.
The same branch was successfully robbed a man (in photos on the right) with a similar description two weeks ago.
This most recent attempted robbery happened Friday morning on the 11100 block of East Ocean Air Drive shortly after 11:00 a.m.
Witnesses say the would-be robber walked into the bank wearing a hat and a surgical mask. The suspect walked up to a teller, who saw a handgun tucked in his front waistband
The man looked around the bank and casually stated to the employee that he saw the bank's security guard, and then walked out of the bank and got into an older model, four-door, silver Nissan Altima or Sentra that was parked in front of the bank, he said. The vehicle, which had no license plates, was last seen traveling southbound on East Ocean Air Drive.
A similar incident happened at almost the exact same time two weeks ago.
In that case, investigators called the gunman the "Swine Flu Bandit" because of the surgical mask he was also wearing.
Police have not indicated if they think today's attempted robber was committed by the same man or a copy cat.
The bandit from November 13, who appeared to be in his 40s, displayed a pistol he had in his waistband before handing a demand note and an envelope to a teller.
After the employee turned over currency, the man walked down the service counter, passing envelopes to three other cash handlers. He then collected all the sheafs of money, left the bank and fled the area to the east on foot, SDPD Officer Brad Ruff said.
Witnesses said the thief on November 13 was white and about 5 feet 11 inches tall, with curly black hair going gray at the temples. He was carrying a black briefcase and wearing khaki pants, a short black jacket, sunglasses and a black baseball cap with gray or white letters on the front.
The hospital-type mask the robber was wearing was marked with the symbol "H1N1," the scientific designation for the swine-flu virus, according to the FBI.
