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Man suspected of being 'Blue Note Bandit' charged with 14 bank heists
SANTA ANA — A Laguna Niguel man suspected of being Orange County's most prolific bank robber was charged today with more than a dozen felonies.
David Andrew Camp, 50, who is accused of being the so-called Blue Note Bandit, pleaded not guilty to the charges and was ordered to return to court March 5 for a pretrial hearing. He was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Orange County sheriff's officials said the Blue Note Bandit, who was so-named because some of his demand notes were written on blue paper, was believed to have robbed 15 banks in Orange County over a two-month period.
Camp, who was arrested about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday outside his home on Porpoise Cove in Laguna Niguel, was charged today with 14 hold-ups. He faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted of the 14 counts of second-degree robbery.
Neighbors of the suspect said 50 to 75 undercover officers swarmed their neighborhood Wednesday night and had the man spread-eagled on the ground before he was taken into custody, KTLA reported.
Camp is married with two teenage sons, neighbors told the station.
He has a criminal history of fraud, theft and drug violations, according to sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.
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Amormino said someone recognized Camp from a security camera photo shown on TV after a holdup Feb. 9 at a Home Savings of America branch on Moulton Parkway in Laguna Niguel, and that the suspect had been under surveillance before being arrested.
Authorities suspected the Blue Note Bandit had a drug or gambling problem because of the frequency of the holdups.
"He definitely has a drug problem,'' Amormino said.
Investigators said he was careful to not leave behind any evidence and that he was calm and methodical during the stickups.
He is a suspect in 15 heists since Nov. 30 in San Juan Capistrano, Costa Mesa, Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Monarch Beach, Laguna Niguel and Costa Mesa.
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