Suspected 'Coast To Coast Bandit' Bank Robber Arrested By NYPD

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police on Wednesday arrested a man who is believed to be the bank robber known as the "Coast to Coast Bandit."

Jon Paul Waulters, 50, of Brooklyn, was apprehended on the Upper East Side Wednesday, according to the FBI and the NYPD. He is suspected in bank robberies in both New York and Los Angeles.

Police said the suspect was arrested just after he allegedly robbed two more banks.

Just after 4 p.m. Wednesday, a man walked into the HSBC Bank at 1165 Third Ave. on the Upper East Side, approached a teller, passed a note demanding money, and displayed a handgun. When the teller refused the man's demands, he left, police said.

At 4:17 p.m. Wednesday, the suspect walked into the Capital One Bank at 1295 Second Ave., also on the Upper East Side, and passed a note demanding money. The teller gave him an unspecified amount of cash and he ran south on Second Avenue, police said.

Waulters was arrested at 4:49 p.m., police said.

Earlier this week, the man allegedly tried to rob an Apple Bank on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst on Monday afternoon.

Police said he told the teller, "This is a robbery," then passed over a hand written note demanding money.

The teller told him she had no money, and refused to hand over any cash even after the man told her had a gun, police said.

The suspect left empty-handed and went to a nearby Chase Bank, where he handed a teller a note that read, "THIS IS A ROBBERY, NO JOKE, GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY," police said.

He took off with cash and was later spotted at the Queens Center Mall, according to the NYPD.

The man had also been wanted in the robbery of a Chase Bank on 72nd Street and Lexington Avenue earlier this month, another robbery that took place in Los Angeles in April, and a pair that took place in Manhattan in March, according to the FBI.