The Prunedale man police believe robbed 11 banks in three
counties
– including three Gilroy banks – in a two-year spree faces
multiple charges of robbery and false imprisonment, with more on
the way.
The Prunedale man police believe robbed 11 banks in three counties – including three Gilroy banks – in a two-year spree faces multiple charges of robbery and false imprisonment, with more on the way.
Gilroy police officers and officers from the California Highway Patrol captured Peter Klein, 49, last Friday, minutes after Klein robbed the Chase Bank on First Street at gunpoint. He ordered at least 10 employees and customers to the ground, according to police, who were alerted when a Chase customer walked up to the bank, saw tellers with their hands up and immediately called police. Based on detailed witness accounts, police tracked down Klein, who fled in an SUV, within minutes.
The defendant was caught “thanks to some really good work by the Gilroy Police Department,” said Deputy District Attorney Cindy Hendrickson at Klein’s arraignment. “These guys did a great job.”
Klein is known to police as the “No Face Bandit” for his typical bank-robbery attire of a baseball cap, dark glasses and a stocking concealing the lower portion of his face, according to Sgt. Ken Binder of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.
According to Hendrickson, Klein stole about $400,000 from various banks over the last two years, his schemes becoming more and more brazen as they went on. Though police believe Klein used a replica gun to pull off his last heist, Hendrickson said it looked so real the victims had no idea it wasn’t.
“They thought they were going to die,” she told Superior Court Judge Hector Ramon, who granted Hendrickson’s request to set Klein’s bail at $5 million. “There’s at least one teller who won’t go back, she was so terrorized.”
Though police were not able to locate the stolen money, Hendrickson said Klein’s home contained “very nice possessions.”
For now, Klein’s charges, which stem from the most recent robbery and a March 2008 robbery of Gilroy’s Bank of the West, carry a 12-year prison sentence, 85 percent of which he would have to serve due to the violent nature of his alleged crimes if convicted, Hendrickson said. However, she said she would be adding charges from at least three of the other incidents which will significantly increase his sentence.
The bespectacled defendant pored over several sheets of paperwork before his case was called. Several members of his family, including his wife of 28 years, were among the onlookers.
“The family is very concerned but has been cooperative,” said Detective Stan Devlin of the Gilroy Police Department. Police are currently holding two of the family’s vehicles for the investigation, he said.
Police emphasized the boldness of Klein’s alleged crimes, which spanned Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
“The more (robberies) he did, the more and more bold he became,” Binder said, describing the crimes as “heartless,” citing a robbery where Klein waved his gun in an 89-year-old man’s face.
“If he got out, he’d be a huge risk and would probably flee,” Hendrickson said, explaining her request to set bail at $5 million while she works to add more charges. “The defendant poses a huge danger to society.”
Ramon set Klein’s plea hearing for 9 a.m. April 10 in Department 109 of the new Morgan Hill courthouse.
