Police arrest suspected robber

Deepa Bharath

Police and federal agents on Sunday arrested a 34-year-old man they

suspect to be the “Give Me More Bandit,” who robbed four Newport-Mesa

banks over the last two months, officials said.

Officials caught up with Moundir Kamil at about 10:20 p.m. Sunday

at Long Beach Airport as he returned from New York, said Newport

Beach Police Lt. John Klein.

Kamil reportedly robbed the Wells Fargo branch in Costa Mesa on

Aug. 6 and two Bank of America branches in Newport Beach on Sept. 30

and another as recently as Oct. 7, officials said. He had also

allegedly robbed two other Orange County banks, police said.

In all robberies, the man threatened the teller with a weapon, but

did not exhibit it. Klein said police did not recover a weapon from

Kamil.

Also, during each of the heists, Kamil reportedly demanded more

after initially taking money from the teller, a repeated action that

prompted officials to give him his nickname, Klein said.

“It’s an unusual thing to do,” he said.

The arrest was made possible because of an anonymous tip, Klein

said. Newport Beach police detectives pursued that lead and got an

arrest warrant for Kamil, charging him with robbery, he said.

“The help and information that our department received from the

public was instrumental in apprehending a dangerous serial robber,”

Klein said.

Kamil was booked at the Newport Beach city jail with bail set at

$100,000. He will be handed over to federal authorities for

prosecution in federal court, Klein said.

The surveillance pictures of Kamil that were released to the media

also helped identify him as the suspect in the alleged crimes, he

said.

“We had pretty good pictures,” Klein said. “And that was largely

because of the improved technology and equipment in the banks.”