Full Notification

William Mitchell, age 56, dubbed the “Roscoe Bandit” by the FBI, was arrested on November 8, 2014 in Grants Pass, Oregon. He was wanted for multiple bank robberies that occurred throughout Washington State. Subsequent investigation revealed that he is also the suspect in Santa Barbara bank robberies that occurred in 2005 and 2014.

On August 15, 2005 at 11:11 a.m., Mitchell entered Santa Barbara Bank and Trust located at 220 Nogales Avenue, brandished a handgun at the employees, ordered them to the ground, stole several thousand dollars, and fled the scene in a vehicle. This case remained unsolved until March 10, 2015 when Mitchell was interviewed about multiple crimes he was suspected of committing.

On October 2, 2014 at 10:52 a.m., Mitchell entered Community West Bank located at 1501 State Street, brandished a handgun at the employees, stole several thousand dollars, and fled on a bicycle. In the course of this robbery, however, Mitchell left his weapon at the scene, which was later discovered to be a replica gun. The gun was processed for the presence of DNA, with samples being submitted to the California Department of Justice Crime Lab for analysis. On March 4, 2015 SBPD detectives were notified that DNA obtained from the gun matched the DNA profile belonging to Mitchell in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database.

On March 10, 2015 Mitchell, with his attorney, was interviewed in Washington State by Seattle Police detectives, FBI agents, and federal prosecutors regarding numerous crimes. He confessed to committing the aforementioned Santa Barbara bank robberies. He has not yet been sentenced; he will likely serve 10 to 15 years in federal prison.

Booking photo provided by the Seattle Police Department.