The
”
No Face Bandit,
”
who allegedly committed a string of bank robberies, has delayed
an expected plea deal because he supposedly beat a fellow inmate,
prosecutors said.
The “No Face Bandit,” who allegedly committed a string of bank robberies, has delayed an expected plea deal because he supposedly beat a fellow inmate, prosecutors said.
Earning his alias for his signature attire of dark glasses, ball cap and nylon stockings, Peter Klein stands accused of 11 federal counts of armed bank robbery and 27 felony counts of false imprisonment, robbery and possession of stolen property brought against him by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Federal and state prosecutors had been working to devise a global agreement that took into consideration the 49-year-old’s previously clean record, but a recent skirmish in prison involving him may have complicated the situation, said Deputy District Attorney Cindy Hendrickson.
“We were really close to settling the series of bank robberies but then this new case arose,” she said. “We need to see if he’s still entitled to credit for what was an otherwise crime-free life.”
Hendrickson – who is prosecuting the string of bank robberies at the county level – would not discuss the details of the settlement. “We’re going to wait and see how that (battery) case plays out and reassess if and how it will affect the disposition of the bank robbery case.”
According to District Attorney spokeswoman Amy Cornell, the district attorney’s office charged Klein with one count of battery upon a person causing serious bodily injury.
Cornell said that Klein had beaten a fellow inmate, but she did not know the circumstances of the fight. Klein is currently being held in federal custody at the main jail in San Jose, Hendrickson said. Though he has been charged with the battery, he has not made any court appearances in that case, Cornell said.
The most recent charge will delay the county’s case until 1:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in Department 109 of the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill.
Klein’s charges stem from a year-long spree of robberies in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, including four Gilroy banks, according to court documents.
Gilroy police arrested Klein March 27 after they were alerted by an off-duty San Jose police officer stopped at a red light near Chase Bank on First Street, according to police reports. The officer saw customers inside with their hands in the air and believed the situation looked suspicious.
Local prosecutors charged Klein with the Chase robbery along with six other bank robberies in Santa Clara County. Federal charges include these robberies along with four robberies in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Klein’s charges in Santa Clara County carry a maximum prison sentence of 27 years and four months, according to prosecutors.
