Wells Fargo bank robber nabbed

Bank robbery has become a growth industry lately, with seven in Ahwatukee Foothills over the past eight months. But police are quickly catching  up.

Robert Nejbauer Jr., 48, of Tempe, was arrested May 27 by an FBI bank robbery task force and charged with eight bank robberies, including the May 20 robbery of a Wells Fargo Bank branch at Warner Road and 48^th Street.

In that robbery, witnesses said the suspect wore latex gloves.

The task force had zeroed in on Nejbauer and were following him when he drove from his Tempe home to a bank in Mesa on Wednesday. As he walked across the street to the bank, officers arrested him. They found a note in his pocket demanding cash and saying he was armed and he was wearing one latex glove when taken into custody.

According to Sandy Raynor, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Nejbauer also admitted to calling in a bomb threat to McClintock High School April 27 to create a diversion so he could rob a nearby bank while police were occupied.

Since the first of the year there have been 110 bank robberies in the Phoenix area, five of which occurred in Ahwatukee Foothills. Raynor said that 15 serial robbers were responsible for 66 percent of the robberies and 14 of the 15 have been arrested and charged.

The task force was formed in January and includes the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Mesa, Phoenix and Scottsdale police departments, FBI, U.S. Attorney's Office and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.