Federal agents nab "Grandad Bandit"
By Staff
Aug 13, 2010, 09:10
A two-and-a-half year hunt for alleged serial bank-robber Michael Francis Mara came to an end this week after a tipster led investigators straight to his Baton Rouge home.
Authorities took in Mara, better known as "the grandad bandit", on a warrant from Richmond after a six-hour stand-off at his home in South East Louisiana.
Official accounts of the arrest state that Mara refused to come outside when federal agents arrived to serve him with the arrest warrant at roughly 10 a.m. The federal deck stacked against the 52-year-old begins Dec. 19, 2008 and continue through July 3, 2010.
Mara has been charged with one bank robbery at publication, but investigators say he carried out at least 25 bank robberies in Virginia and across the country.
The arrest came in the wake of a national digital billboard campaign spanning 40 states; The reward for information leading to Mara's arrest jumped from $10,000 to $25,000 last week.
The FBI's initial push for information leading to Mara's arrest described the baby boomer's M.O., and by extension, his unconventional moniker: "The subject enters the banks calmly, oftentimes patiently waiting for his turn in line, and then as he approaches the victim tellers he presents his demand note. Once his demands are met he retrieves the note and exits the banks quietly so as not to bring attention to the crime he had just committed," the release states.
At 52, Mara's age hardly stands out as a qualifier for the title "Grandad Bandit", but according to FBI Spokesperson Dee Rybiski, Mara's trademark wire-rimmed glasses, polo shirts and balding coiffe mask a cunning criminal mind.
"People say 'oh, he's never used a gun, or he looks harmless,' but why take the chance — he's clearly capable of carrying out criminal acts," Rybiski said, during a phone interview regarding the national push for Mara's arrest.
The Richmond FBI field office re-launched the national man-hunt for Mara after Union First Market Bank at 11263 West Broad St. in Glen Allen was knocked over June 22.
A nine-page affidavit filed August 6 in Richmond by FBI special agent Michael K. Termyn states that a tip fielded by the Norfolk field office on August 2 helped the agency's link Mara to the robbery in Glen Allen, and a laundry list of offenses crossing 13 states.
Agents were able to confirm their suspicions by tracing Mara's rental car history, which appears to correspond with his alleged offenses.
