Police arrest suspected bandit for string of bank robberies in Maryland

A man who they believe is responsible for a spate of Maryland bank robberies has been detained by police. The defendant, who the authorities have called the “old man bandit,” is accused of stealing banks for 45 years.

Montgomery County Police announced Friday that Steven Gregory Gass, 67, has been accused with several bank robberies. An individual from Frederick, Maryland, is charged with attempting to rob a Wells Fargo on July 14 and a Truist Bank on June 18 in addition to a bank in Baltimore County.

The history of Gass’ bank robberies is extensive. Police reported that one of the first banks Gass robbed was in Montgomery County in 1977. He admitted to robbing 19 banks in Florida and entered a plea of guilty in 2010.

The suspect entered the Truist in Bethesda, according to the police, while sporting a huge fisherman’s hat and a blue face mask, and handed the teller a note announcing the heist. Authorities claim that he took an undisclosed sum of money out of the bank.

After a White male wearing a huge face mask, sunglasses, and a light-colored fisherman’s hat entered the bank and handed the teller a handwritten note announcing the robbery, a Wells Fargo employee in Gaithersburg activated the quiet alarm, according to authorities. Officers observed Gass leave the location and followed him to a Park and Ride where they detained him, according to a news release from the department, while the man departed the bank without getting any money.

More than 1,700 bank robberies are reported to have taken place last year, and the federal offense carries a maximum 20-year jail sentence.

According to authorities, Gass was being held without bond in Montgomery County after being released from jail in 2019 for medical reasons.