FBI offering $2,500 reward in pursuit of Phoenix’s ‘Mismatch Bandit’
Nov 8, 2018, 12:45 PM | Updated: 2:39 pm
PHOENIX – The FBI is offering a $2,500 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a man known as the “Mismatch Bandit,” who is wanted for robbing at least 18 Phoenix businesses.
The FBI gave the suspect his nickname because he’s worn a variety of clothing during the crimes and there doesn’t appear to a pattern to the establishments he targets.
“Usually in these type of armed robbery series, we usually can find some sort of trend in some sort of business that the subject is robbing,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Robert Scherer, who is assigned to the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday.
“In this case there is no real pattern to what the subject is doing.”
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His targets include a thrift store, restaurants, drug stores, cellphone stores and lingerie shops.
The suspect is connected to robberies that took place between Aug. 2 and Oct. 25.
“There could be more,” Scherer said. “As we always do, we look at other jurisdictions.
“Currently, all these 18 robberies are located in the city of Phoenix.”
The FBI released the following map of the crime scenes:
(FBI Map)
The suspect has been entering the businesses and demanding money while either showing a gun in his waistband or holding his hands under his sweatshirt to simulate a weapon, but nobody has been injured.
He typically wears a hoodie pulled up and a bandana covering the lower part of his face.
He was described as a white male believed to be 30 to 40 years old who stands 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-10 and weighs 155 to 175 pounds, with dirty blond hair, a receding hairline and blue or green eyes.
Anybody with information was asked to call the FBI at 623-466-1999 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (480-948-6377). Tips can also be submitted online to the FBI.
The FBI and the Phoenix Police Department first sought the public’s help on the Mismatch Bandit case at the beginning of October, and the suspect has been connected to four additional robberies since then.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Ashley Flood contributed to this report.
