‘Marx Brothers’ Robber Suspect, ‘Tired of Running,’ Gives Self Up

Saying he was “tired of running,” accused “Marx Brothers” bandit Lawrence Lockridge surrendered to federal authorities Tuesday on bank robbery charges after four months as a fugitive.

Lockridge, a suspect in up to 11 armed robberies in 1984-86, was arrested on the steps of the federal courthouse in Los Angeles a few days after he telephoned an attorney and announced that he wanted to turn himself in.

Lockridge, 57, has been at large since he was mistakenly released April 19 from a Las Vegas jail, where he was jailed on charges of holding up a bank and taking a bank employee hostage.

Lockridge’s brother, Roger, was sentenced in June to 18 years in prison for his role in a string of bank robberies federal authorities accuse the men of committing while wearing fake noses, mustaches and spectacles.

Lockridge’s lawyer, Erroll Stambler, said the fugitive called him Thursday and said he was “tired of running” and wanted to turn himself in.

Employees Terrorized

“First off, he says, ‘This is Lawrence Lockridge.’ And I said, ‘Who?’ ” Stambler said. “He says, ‘Well, they want me for bank robbery.’ I said, ‘So?’ He said, ‘How about the Marx Brothers?’ I said, ‘Bingo!’ ”

Federal authorities say the two brothers, red-haired men with glasses who lived with their elderly mother in Glendale, terrorized bank employees throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties by demanding cash and herding workers and patrons into bank vaults at gunpoint.

Known for their bizarre disguises, the Marx Brothers bandits had been linked in the last three years with holdups in Fullerton, Garden Grove, Costa Mesa and Corona del Mar.

In the Fullerton robbery, two men in wigs--one wearing a blue pinstriped suit, the other a Kansas City Royals jacket--pulled guns and ran from the bank with a bag full of money and a little surprise. As they reached their car in the parking lot, a dye packet in the bag exploded, dousing them and their car with bright red, indelible dye.

They abandoned the money and fled.

Lawrence Lockridge, who spent 11 years in Folsom State Prison on an earlier armed robbery conviction, has been charged with the Las Vegas holdup and the December robbery of Central Savings in San Dimas of $91,917.

‘Most Interesting Figure’

Lockridge, a lifetime gambler, had apparently been living on card games and “funds that he had from before” his initial arrest, Stambler said.

“He’s one of the most interesting figures you’d ever want to meet, there’s no doubt about it,” the lawyer said. “He lived. I mean he lived . He committed crimes, he gambled, a Bonnie-and-Clyde type. Except he never shot anybody.”

Lockridge, he said, told him that authorities at the Clark County Detention Center mistakenly told him on April 19 that he was to be released.

“He said they called his name and they told him, ‘Hit the road,’ ” Stambler said. “Not questioning anybody there, he hit the road. He’s been on the run ever since.”

U.S. Magistrate Venetta Tassopulos ordered Lockridge held without bail and scheduled his arraignment for Sept. 14.