A half dozen officers with the Chino Police Department sojourned to Mason City, Iowa recently, seeking clues and assisting local authorities there in the dragnet for the so-called AK-47 bandit.
On July 28 the Heartland Community Credit Union in Mason City was robbed in a brazen daylight heist by a man fitting the description of the AK-47 Bandit.
On February 29, 2012, the California Bank and Trust at 12th Street and Riverside Drive in Chino was robbed by the individual dubbed the AK-47 Bandit. In pulling that job, the thief wounded a Chino police officer, shooting him in the leg. The officer has not been publicly identified.
In carrying out his thefts, the robber carries an AK-47 rifle. He is believed to be a Caucasian, 25 to 40 years of age, five foot-nine inches to six foot tall with a medium build. He often employs a black ski mask and gloves in carrying out his depredations.
Shortly after the Mason City robbery, Chino Police Chief Karen Comstock dispatched a lieutenant, a sergeant and four detectives to Iowa for four days. During that time they coordinated with the FBI, Mason City and Cerro Gordo County authorities in the manhunt for the bandit. They were in Iowa from July 28 until July 31.
Shortly after the Chino robbery, an individual believed to be the AK-47 bandit botched a heist at a Tri-Counties bank in Sacramento. Less than a week later, he carried off a robbery at a Bank of the West in Vacaville.
In July 2012, authorities said the same man robbed a Chase Bank in North Bend, Washington. In November 2012, he hit an East Idaho Credit Union in Rexburg.
On August 22, 2014, he struck again, knocking over a First Nebraska Bank in Nebraska City, Nebraska. During that job, he used a duffel bag and an assault rifle with a drum magazine similar to the weapon seen in his earlier robberies.
In Mason City, a man wearing a black ski mask, gloves and armed with an AK-47 robbed Iowa Heartland Credit Union at about 10 a.m. on the last Tuesday in July. Employees were herded into the bank vault and what appeared to be an “improvised explosive device” was used to threaten the victims. It was left behind. The Iowa Fire Marshal’s Office examined it, determining it was harmless.
The robber was last seen in Mason City driving a 2007-09 black or dark-colored Toyota Camry. The license plate was obscured.