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By Lookout Staff

January 26 – Despite having his picture plastered in newspapers and on websites and TV, the “salt & pepper” bandit struck again on Saturday afternoon, this time in West LA just a block from the police station, according to police.

The middle-aged black man with graying hair has held up at least a dozen Los Angeles-area banks this month, two of them in Santa Monica.

On January 5, he robbed the U.S. Bank on the 3300 Pico Boulevard, according to Santa Monica Police. Three days later, he hit the Union Bank on Wilshire Boulevard.

The target of the latest robbery on Saturday was the Bank of America branch at 11501 Santa Monica Boulevard about a dozen blocks east of the Santa Monica border. The robbery took place at. around 12:18 p.m., police said.

The robber usually passes a note to the bank teller demanding cash, sometimes placing his hand on his waistband as if he has a gun, police said.

On three different days he held up two banks, sometimes less than an hour apart.

He usually makes his getaway in a gold-colored 1993 to 1997 Toyota Corolla, authorities said.

In addition to the two Santa Monica banks, his targets include three Citibank branches in the Valley, Rancho Park and Willowbrook and three Washington Mutual banks in Westlake, Seal Beach and Los Angeles.

He also has held up branches of Cal Bank, First Bank, First Federal, Wells Fargo, Union Bank and US Bank in the Los Angeles area.

The robber -- who stands 5 feet 11 inches and weighs about 170 pounds -- has been captured on surveillance cameras. He usually wears a two-tone reversible black and gray jacket and has a moustache and goatee.

He is believed to be between 50 and 55 years old.

Anyone with information about the “salt & pepper bandit” should call the santa Monica Police Department at 310.458.8426 or Det. Tracy Benjamin at the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division at 213.485.2511.

Those wishing to remain anonymous should call the we-Tip Hotline at 800.78-CRIME (27463).