FBI Offers Reward for Help Catching Serial Bank Robber

The original Lone Ranger wore a mask while defending justice in the Wild West. The new Loan Ranger is wanted for committing armed bank robbery involving least a dozen financial institutions in four states — and he's been showing his face to security cameras for the past four years.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for help in catching the so-called Loan Ranger Bandit, the agency announced on its website Friday. Authorities suspect the unidentified man of robbing banks and credit unions in Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky and Texas starting in 2009.

"We have a lot of good surveillance photos where he is looking directly at the camera," said FBI Special Agent Russell Di Lisi, who is coordinating the investigation from the FBI's Dallas Division. "Somebody out there has to know him or recognize him, and that's why we need the public's help."

The Loan Ranger most recently robbed the Santa Fe Community Credit Union in Temple, Texas, in July — his second stick-up at that institution. A man fitting his description also struck a U.S. Bank (USB) branch in Louisville, Kentucky in May. The robber targets stand-alone branches with easy access to major roads and often hits the same places more than once, Di Lisi said.

Authorities gave the man his moniker because he wore a Texas Rangers baseball cap in an early robbery and targets financial institutions that make loans, according to the FBI's website.

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