Suspect arrested in string of Costa Mesa, H.B., other bank robberies

Police arrested a homeless man suspected of robbing 11 Orange County banks in the span of two months, including four in Costa Mesa and one in Huntington Beach, the FBI said.

Authorities said Friday that they used forensic evidence to identify Mark Moore, 47, as the suspect in a series of bank robberies attributed to the so-called 2K bandit.

The robber was given the nickname for using notes that sometimes demanded “two thousand dollars.”

“The suspect also made verbal demands and threatened victims,” the FBI said in a news release. “In some cases, the suspect indicated that victims were in further danger if they did not comply with his demands, and that suggested that he was working with others.”

The FBI said Moore has been tied to four bank robberies in Costa Mesa: a Wells Fargo at 301 E. 17th St. on Dec. 3; a Bank of America at 548 W. 19th St. and a Wells Fargo at 2300 Harbor Blvd., both on Dec. 22; and a Chase at 1455 Baker St. on Jan. 17.

He also is suspected in bank robberies in San Clemente, Buena Park, Tustin, Orange and Huntington Beach, where a US Bank at 7211 Warner Ave. was robbed on Jan. 3.

All the crimes occurred in December and January, authorities said.

Police arrested Moore on Feb. 6 after a Tustin detective saw him while on surveillance duty as part of a joint investigation in Buena Park, according to the FBI.

Moore pleaded not guilty last week to 12 counts of robbery and two possible sentencing enhancements of use of a firearm.

He is being held in Orange County Jail with bail set at $1 million, according to Sheriff’s Department records.

The FBI said Moore had been living throughout Orange County as a transient.