Dallas FBI Needs Help Capturing a Serial Bank Robber Dubbed the 'Bad Hair Bandit'

A bad wig, sometimes black and other times gray, and dark sunglasses seems like a weak disguise for a bank robber to wear. It’s not the most interesting disguise compared with the New York bank robber who dressed up as Darth Vader, the Illinois bank robber who wore a nun mask or the Texas bank robber who wore an Abe-Lincoln-like beard, earning the moniker “the Abe Lincoln Bandit.”

But the Bad Hair Bandit has successfully used the wig and sunglasses disguise to rob five Dallas-area banks since January, striking three of them on March 15, before evading capture in a white, four-door sedan that may or may not be a 2013 to 2015 Nissan Altima, according to a March 18 FBI press release.

Now the Dallas FBI Violent Crimes Task Force is seeking the public’s help to find him, and Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $5,000 for information leading to the Bad Hair Bandit’s arrest. He’s described as a black man in his late 40s or early 50s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, approximately 200 pounds, with a medium build and complexion.

"It's the FBI's hope that someone out there recognizes this man and comes forward with information that can help investigators," said Allison Mahan, an FBI spokesperson. 

Wearing black sunglasses, a gray wig and sweatshirt, the Bad Hair Bandit first struck in late January, relieving the BBVA Compass Bank at the 11700 block of Preston Road of an undisclosed amount of money using only a handwritten note that indicated he was carrying a gun but never actually producing the weapon.

A couple of weeks later, he struck again, robbing a BB&T Bank at 11800 Preston Road, using the simple disguise and passing the same note.

But now he’s grown bolder, striking three banks in one day.

On March 15, the Bad Hair Bandit, wearing a black wig and dark sunglasses, struck the Comerica Bank at the 19100 block Preston Road, followed by the Bank of Texas at the 6700 block of Preston Road and ending with the BBVA Compass Bank at 6500 Hillcrest Ave.

The Bad Hair Bandit seems to be mimicking another bank robber who looked like he traveled through time from the 1970s, wearing a black wig with a thick black headband holding it in place, a fake black beard and large sunglasses. On March 31, 2015, This Bad Hair Bandit robbed a BBVA Compass Bank at the 800 block of West Kearney in Mesquite.

Similar to the other Bad Hair Bandit, the Mesquite bank robber, who was also about the same height and weighed approximately 210 pounds, walked into the bank, demanded an undisclosed amount of money from the bank teller but never brandished a gun.

The Bad Hair Bandit who robbed the Mesquite bank escaped in a black Ford Focus sedan, but witnesses claimed that a dye pack exploded inside his getaway car before he fled the scene throwing money out the window, according to a local news report.

The Mesquite police didn’t return calls for comment, and the FBI couldn’t verify if the Bad Hair Bandit who robbed the bank in Mesquite a year ago was the same Bad Hair Bandit currently striking banks in Dallas.

Anyone with information related to this crime is urged to call North Texas Crime Stoppers at 877-373-TIPS.