Police Release Video of 'Cotton Ball Bandit' Sought in at Least Five Bank Robberies

After an alleged serial bank robber who has eluded law enforcement agencies in Marin for nine months struck again last month, Central Marin Police have turned to the public for help, releasing video surveillance footage from the latest robbery in the hope that someone will be able to identify the alleged robber.

The latest robbery occurred on Aug. 21 at the Wells Fargo Bank in the Corte Madera Town Center. In the video footage, a white man in his 50s walks into the bank, gives a bank teller a note demanding money, receives an unknown amount of cash, and walks out of the bank with the cash and his note.

The man is described as 40-50 years old and approximately 6 feet tall with light brown/grey hair and light eyes, wearing a dark jacket, dark pants, black gloves and a brown knit cap with earflaps. Because of the ball atop the knit cap, police have dubbed the man the "Cotton Ball Bandit," according to CMPA Detective Cheryl Paris.

The alleged robber matched the description of similar robberies that occurred on January 9, 2013 at Union Bank on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Greenbrae and on July 17, 2013 at Chase Bank at 437 Corte Madera Town Center, as well as an attempted bank robbery on January 22, 2013 at Union Bank in the Strawberry Village shopping center at 329 Redwood Highway Frontage Road.

No weapons were used or seen in any of the incidents, and no one has been injured, police said.

Anyone with information regarding these bank robberies should call Central Marin Police Authority Detective Cheryl Paris at (415) 927-5150.