Cops: 'Old Man Bandit' Got Out of Jail, Began Robbing Banks Again

The "Old Man Bandit" has been arrested after trying to rob a Maryland bank—one of dozens he's targeted over a criminal career spanning 45 years, according to police. Montgomery County Police say Steven Gregory Gass, 67—who served more than eight years in prison in Florida after pleading guilty to bank robbery in 1991, then received a 13-year sentence in 2010 after admitting to robbing another 21 banks over two years—was granted compassionate release for medical reasons in 2019, per the Washington Post. According to police, he didn't learn his lesson. Gass allegedly robbed a Truist bank in Bethesda on June 18, then targeted a Wells Fargo bank in Gaithersburg on July 14.

In both cases, Gass passed a teller a note, according to police. But he was unsuccessful in Gaithersburg. A bank employee hit a silent alarm after seeing a white male in a fisherman's hat, sunglasses, and a large face mask interact with a teller, police said. Gass then fled in a vehicle, which police followed before arresting him without incident, according to a release. Police said the 67-year-old also wore a fisherman's hat when robbing the Truist bank. The Frederick resident—whose criminal history dates back to a bank robbery in Montgomery County in 1977, per WJLA—is suspected of another bank robbery in Baltimore County, according to police. He's being held without bond. (A $10,000 reward is offered for a prolific bank robber in New England.)