The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Wednesday announced that it has arrested an Arizona man suspected of robbing 23 banks.
“The ‘Back Again Bandit’ has been identified,” the federal law enforcement entity said in a press release. “On Monday, October 25, 2021, the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force with assistance from the Phoenix Police Department arrested Richard Zumbro, 44, without incident following a bank robbery at U.S. Bank, 1855 North Power Road in Mesa.”
Zumbro allegedly robbed 22 banks in Arizona and one Nevada, and had a unique modus operandi. Nearly all of his targets were banks located inside supermarkets.
His Arizona targets were located in Tempe, Phoenix, Chandler, Gilbert, Casa Grande, Maricopa, Surprise, Tucson, and Mesa.
“I don’t think [supermarket banks are] any more of a ‘softer target,'” Rob Scherer, a member of the FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force reportedly said. “It was a personal preference of his.”
Authorities said he would pass a threatening note to a teller, demanding cash but never claiming to have a specific weapon. No one was ever hurt during Zumbro’s robberies, which allegedly began in December of 2020.
Scherer called the case “exhaustive,” and said one of his investigators “really, really worked virtually every day.”
“Part of the suspect’s pattern was a lack of pattern, which I think extended the amount of hits in the timeframe until we picked up that breadcrumb,” according to Scherer.
He said that 23 robberies from one suspect is the most he has ever seen in his FBI career.
Zumbro committed the robberies over a period of about 40 weeks, averaging a bank robbery a little more than every other week.
Less than a month ago, 37-year-old Stephen Phil Franco, a suspect in a bank robbery in Tempe, was shot and killed by authorities while attempting to flee the scene. Police said Franco was armed. Negotiations with Franco, which occurred while he barricaded himself inside his car, failed.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
