‘Cowboy Bandit’ Gets Nine Years
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VAN NUYS — The so-called “Cowboy Bandit,” suspected in more than a dozen San Fernando Valley robberies, was sentenced to nine years in prison Monday.
Dale Martin Sullivan, 46, who authorities said sometimes robbed two businesses a day during a spree that began during Christmas week of 1996, pleaded guilty to felony charges in Van Nuys Superior Court.
He earned his nickname because he wore a cowboy hat and leather jacket and carried a starter pistol.
Police said all of these were found in his car following a police pursuit in January that ended at Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Pacoima. Police captured Sullivan after a police car hit his vehicle and pinned it against a utility pole. Officers then scuffled with Sullivan and one shot was fired, but no one was hit.
Sullivan pleaded guilty to armed robbery, assault and weapons charges before Judge Sandy Kriegler.
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