SAN DIEGO – A cross-dressing bank robber dubbed the “Tootsie Bandit” because he wore a wig, sunglasses and makeup while holding up an Inland FCU branch in El Cajon last July, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to robbery and attempted robbery charges.
The drag outfit earned the robber the nickname the Tootsie Bandit after the 1990s movie hit where an out-of-work actor played by Dustin Hoffman dresses as a dowdy woman to win a role.
In the credit union heist, Robert Tyndall, 56, simulated a gun and got away with $66,000, the prosecutor said.
Tyndall tried to rob a Comerica Bank branch but left when the bank manager refused to let him into the office, the prosecutor said. Tyndall also robbed a Torrey Pines Bank branch last February.
