'Tourist Bandit' Robbery Suspect Arrested in Hollywood

Editor's note: The officers who apprehended the suspect were initially misidentified as being from the Hollywood Beautification Team. They were actually members of the Sunset and Vine BID Security Patrol. 

A suspect in two bank robberies earlier this week was arrested Friday morning, officials said.

Rex Lutton, 54, was arrested near Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood after allegedly attempting to rob a customer at a Bank of America branch, said Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles field office.

Lutton is suspected of being the so-called tourist bandit,  earlier this week, Eimiller said.

According to the police report, officers in the Hollywood Beautification Team, a nonprofit organization funded by local businesses, saw the suspect fleeing shortly after 9 a.m. Friday, with a man chasing after him yelling, "That guy just robbed me," officer Julie Boyer of the LAPD's Hollywood Division told Patch. It was later clarified that the officers were members of the Sunset and Vine BID Security Patrol.

LAPD officers searched Lutton's motel room near Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street and found a bank bag, which prompted them to contact federal officials, Boyer said.

"He was on federal probation for bank robbery, with a warrant for escape from the U.S. Marshals," Boyer said.

"The victim said he was making a cash withdrawal, and while counting the money, Lutton approached him from behind and said put the money back in the bag," Boyer said. "The victim removed a taser from his pocket and pointed it at Lutton, but the taser refused to fire. The suspect then ran out of the bank with no property."

Lutton was booked at the Hollywood Division at approximately 9:40 Friday morning. He was booked on state charges in connection with Friday's attempted armed robbery and is expected to be booked on federal charges stemming from the other two bank robberies, Eimiller told Patch.