ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A 40-year-old St. Petersburg man with a long record of bank robberies is facing new federal charges, accused of holding up two Pinellas County banks this summer while disguised in a prosthetic mask made to look like an elderly man.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed a criminal complaint against David Sartin Jr. that lists two bank robbery counts. Investigators say he hit a bank in Largo on Aug. 24 and a second bank in St. Petersburg on Sept. 15. Each count carries a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
The FBI worked the case with the St. Petersburg Police Department and the Largo Police Department. According to court records, the robber walked up to the teller counter in both holdups, demanded cash and told the teller to leave out any dye packs.
Investigators believe the suspect left his car a short distance from the first bank, rode a bicycle the rest of the way, then pedaled back to the car after the robbery and drove off. Home surveillance video later showed a man resembling Sartin unloading a bicycle from the car, and agents say the vehicle’s white roof was painted black the next day.
At his home, searchers found a black bag, a bike and a blue suit. A storage unit held the mask, glasses, work gloves and a fake handgun, prosecutors say. At another house where he sometimes stayed, agents found a journal about bank robbery.
Sartin was on supervised release at the time. He had been convicted federally in 2018 over five masked bank robberies in Texas in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years and one month, and an attempted bank robbery conviction dates back to 2008. The new charges are accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Section: More St. Petersburg FL crime news
Filed under: St. Petersburg FL Crime News
