'Band-Aid Bandit' pleads no contest to Modesto, Turlock robberies

A 25-year-old man known to law enforcement as the “Band-Aid Bandit” pleaded no contest this morning to a string of robberies that targeted eight stores from Modesto to Turlock during summer 2008.

Andrew Jason Gonzalez will likely face more than 27 years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 4 for the robberies and using a firearm during the course of the crimes, prosecutor John Baker said.

Baker said Gonzalez congratulated officers after they chased him down Oct. 30, 2008 in his Merced neighborhood, telling them they finally had caught the “Band-Aid Bandit.”

Police said he wore a Band-Aid under his left eye to cover a mole on his face during the robberies.

After an April 2009 preliminary hearing, Baker said Gonzalez’s mother, Allison Villegas, identified her son in a still photo taken from surveillance video of one of the robberies.

During the first robbery, on June 4, 2008, Gonzalez escaped with $57 from a Turlock Quik Stop, according to police testimony.

At a Turlock Circuit City two months later, police said, Gonzalez grabbed a Verizon Wireless flier from an employee at the front entrance, leaving his prints behind when he discarded the paper at the counter.

Gonzalez’s method was to ask for change so a clerk would open the cash drawer, police said. He also showed his gun to the victims, authorities said. “The evidence was pretty substantial against him,” Baker said.

Baker said he did not believe Gonzalez had any prior criminal record and he did not know what his motive was to commit the robberies. Gonzalez’s attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.

Gonzalez’s legal problems don’t stop at the Stanislaus County line. He is a suspect in more robberies and faces charges in Santa Clara County, Baker said.