Ex-cop held in string of bank heists

After months of searching for the Snowbird Bandit linked to a string of bank robberies in south Orange County, authorities have arrested a suspect: a retired Los Angeles police detective.

Randolph Bruce Adair, 70, of Rancho Santa Margarita, was taken into custody about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in a parking lot in that city after several family members tipped off investigators to his identity, according to the Orange County Sheriff ’s Department.

Adair was booked on suspicion of robbery and an outstanding warrant. He is being held on $205,000 bail.

Adair was a longtime LAPD detective, police spokeswoman Officer Liliana Preciado said. She said he was hired by the Los Angeles Police Department in December 1967, and retired on Oct. 5, 1988, after working in the Rampart Division.

The FBI believes Adair robbed five banks, most recently the First Citizens Bank in Rancho Santa Margarita on Tuesday.

The bank robber was nicknamed the Snowbird Bandit because of his age and white hair. During some of the robberies, he is said to have brandished a revolver.

Adair is also suspected in the following robberies:

July 6 at the U.S. Bank at 111 Corporate Drive in Ladera Ranch, near the 5 Freeway.

June 11 at the Wells Fargo Bank branch at 24471 Alicia Parkway in Mission Viejo, next to the 5 Freeway.

May 22 at the First Citizens Bank at 29818 Santa Margarita Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita, near Highway 241

March 20 at the California Bank & Trust at 24034 Camino del Avion in Monarch Beach, a neighborhood of Dana Point.