Man charged in 11 bank robberies across South Florida

At 11 different banks in South Florida, Jorge Ariel Cabrera displayed a note to tellers, saying he had a gun and demanded they hand over cash, court records say.

After his spree of robberies that lasted four months, Cabrera was arrested on Feb. 28 after fleeing from a Wells Fargo in Hialeah with $10,000.

He led authorities on a high-speed chase to his apartment complex, where he was found hiding in the gym, according to a criminal complaint.

By the time he was arrested, Cabrera had successfully taken nearly $66,000, records show.

Cabrera, 52, of Hialeah, admitted robbing 11 banks in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, claiming he needed “to support his gambling debt,” the complaint says.

He was indicted Thursday on multiple charges.

Each robbery went the same: Cabrera walked into the businesses wearing jackets, hats and face masks holding a cellphone to his ear, showed tellers the note saying he had a gun and to give him cash and then fled, according to a criminal complaint. On multiple occasions, he hit two banks in the same day.

In November, he entered a Wells Fargo in Plantation about 9:30 a.m. and left with $1,435. Then he hit at a Wells Fargo in Miami Lakes about three hours later, the complaint says, wearing the same outfit.

Cabrera was seen on surveillance video entering a Chase bank and a Wells Fargo in Aventura on the same day, within about 30 minutes of each other, the complaint says.

Investigators, using surveillance video, found Cabrera fled some of the banks in a white truck, which was registered to the company where he worked.

They watched Cabrera at his job, finding he had a white Fiat registered to him.

Cabrera was seen leaving at least two of the bank robberies in the Fiat, according to the complaint.

If convicted, Cabrera could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each robbery count, five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.