Feds extradite, charge 'stretchy pant bandit' suspect in Ceres bank robbery

FRESNO -- A man accused of being the bank robber dubbed “the stretchy pants bandit” faces federal charges and was extradited to Fresno on Tuesday for hearings in the U.S. Eastern District Court of California.

Leonard Charles Brown Jr., 26, was arrested by Alameda police Sept. 30 on a robbery warrant issued by Ceres police. Investigators say Brown robbed the Bank of America on Mitchell Road on Sept. 18, wearing women’s clothing that included a wig, an off-the-shoulder blouse and tights, or “stretchy pants.”

According to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. attorney’s office Friday, Brown was carrying a purse that contained a note he handed to a bank teller, demanding money. The note, with its misspellings and grammatical errors, read, “You have sixty second to empty out your droor keep you left hand on the desk the whole time! This is not a joke! Don’t look at anybody else. When your done walk around open the door and let me out and close it behind me. Do exactly as I say and no one will get hurt.”

The teller complied with Brown’s orders, worried that he had a gun in his purse because he kept his left hand near the opening, according to the complaint.

She never saw a gun. As she retrieved a stack of cash from her drawer and attempted to include a dye pack, Brown saw the dye pack and told her, “No,” according to the complaint.

The robber left the bank with $4,382 and last was seen running southeast across Mitchell Road.

A Ceres police officer who reviewed the bank’s surveillance footage knew Brown from previous contact and immediately identified him, despite his drag disguise. Two bank tellers identified Brown in a photo lineup, according to the complaint. Brown faces a federal charge of one count of bank robbery.

Bee staff writer Erin Tracy can be reached at etracy@modbee.com or (209)578-2366.