SAN DIEGO–San Diego Police Department Homeless Outreach Team officers, in cooperation with detectives from the San Diego Police Department Robbery Unit, have arrested today a transient for a series of bank robberies in San Diego county.
Thomas Amado, 49, was taken into custody by police after an officer spotted him sitting on a bus bench at 3rd Avenue and Washington Street. The officer believed that Amado matched the description of the suspect from yesterday’s bank robbery and attempt bank robbery in the same area. The officer detained Amado until Robbery Unit detectives arrived and confirmed that Amado was the suspect from yesterday’s cases.
On August 31 at about 3 p.m., a male suspect entered the Chase Bank located at 3800 5th Avenue in Hillcrest. The suspect approached a teller and made a verbal demand for cash. The teller pretended as though he didn’t hear the suspect’s demand, so the suspect repeated it. The teller walked away from the service window and the suspect left the bank without any cash.
At 3:12 p.m., the same suspect entered the Comerica Bank located at 412 Washington Street. The suspect approached a teller, put a finger to his mouth to indicate the teller should not speak and demanded cash. The teller gave him an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect walked out of the bank, northbound on 5th Avenue. The suspect was further described as having bushy white hair and carrying a white plastic bag from Mercy Hospital.
Amado will be booked into San Diego County Jail on two counts of commercial robbery. He was arraigned Tuesday in San Diego Superior Court.
