Police arrested an Aromas man within five minutes Friday evening
after he was suspected of using a handgun to rob the Chase Bank in
Gilroy, police said. Peter Klein, 49, didn’t get far before
officers arrested him in his SUV minutes after he allegedly stole
an undisclosed amount of cash from the bank at 1177 First St., near
Westwood Drive.
Police arrested an Aromas man within five minutes Friday evening after he was suspected of using a handgun to rob the Chase Bank in Gilroy, police said.
Peter Klein, 49, didn’t get far before officers arrested him in his SUV minutes after he allegedly stole an undisclosed amount of cash from the bank at 1177 First St., near Westwood Drive. Klein’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, and he is being held without bail for armed bank robbery after police said he walked into the Chase Bank just before 6 p.m. Friday with a blue duffel bag. Wearing sunglasses and a brown mask that covered his face below his eyes and armed with a black handgun, he quickly ordered at least 10 employees and customers to the ground, according to police.
As the bank was just about to close, police originally suspected Klein’s timing as a link to the fugitive “Sleeves Bandit” – a middle-aged white male of medium build who matches Klein’s stature, enters banks near closing time, appears to wear fake tattoo sleeves and brandishes a handgun, according to previous police reports. The FBI believes the robber has been responsible for as many as 15 robberies in California since Thanksgiving, but Special Agent Joseph Schadler said in a telephone message Monday that Klein was not the notorious stick-up man.
Gilroy Police Sgt. Wes Stanford accredited astute witnesses at the bank for Klein’s capture, including one last-minute customer who walked up to the bank, saw tellers with their hands up and immediately called police, Stanford said. Within 3 minutes, a nearby California Highway Patrol vehicle arrived on scene, but Klein had already fled in his SUV. Based on detailed witness statements, though, CHP and GPD officers tracked Klein down within two minutes and arrested him after discovering evidence in his car linking him to the robbery.
“We had some really good citizens paying attention to their surroundings,” said Stanford
The last bank robbery in Gilroy was more than a year ago, in January 2008, when San Jose resident Adam Vincent Pascucci, then 35, allegedly held up the Bank of America on Camino Arroyo. Pascucci was arrested six months later in Menlo Park after he allegedly robbed a Los Altos Bank of America. Police also believed Pascucci was responsible for additional robberies at a San Jose Bank of America and a Dublin Bank of America. That statuses of those charges were unclear as of Monday morning.
