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Frederick resident Steven Gregory Gass - also known as "Old Man Bandit" who has an extensive history of bank robberies spanning 45 years was arrested after allegedly attempting to rob the Wells Fargo Bank on North Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg.
The 67-year-old’s history dates back to Montgomery County in 1977, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
In 2010, Gass pleaded guilty to robbing 19 banks between 2008 and 2009 in Florida. He was granted a compassionate release from prison in 2019 for medical reasons and moved back to Maryland, where he fell back into old trappings while living with his elderly parents.
On Thursday, July 14, Montgomery County Police and Gaithersburg City police officers responded to a call for an attempted bank robbery at the Wells Fargo branch in the 600 block of North Frederick Avenue, officials said.
In that latest instance, investigators said that a man - later identified as Gass - wore a light-colored fisherman’s hat, sunglasses, and a large face mask and approached a bank teller.
He allegedly handed the teller a handwritten note announcing the robbery. When the teller walked away, another bank employee hit the silent alarm to alert the police.
Gass proceeded to leave the bank without taking any cash.
The investigation led police to Gass, who was seen leaving the area of North Frederick Avenue in a black two-door Honda Civic on the day of the attempted robbery. Officials said that he was followed to a Park-and-Ride on Route 80 near the I-287 exit ramp, where he was approached by officers and arrested without incident.
During the investigation, Gass was also linked to a June bank robbery on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda. He is also accused of robbing another bank in Baltimore County.
On Sunday, July 21, Montgomery and Baltimore County Police served a residential search warrant on Gass's parents’ home in Frederick, investigators said, leading to the seizure of evidence tying him to the robberies.
Gass is currently being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit without bond on the two Montgomery County cases, and Baltimore County has obtained an arrest warrant, charging him with one count of robbery.
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