Police tally 21 Austin bank robberies last year, first dip since 2014

It was October, and a man in a mask was robbing banks.

He hit three banks in two weeks and then one more near the end of the month. Each robbery was similar: The man, later identified in court documents as 42-year-old Peter Bunting, wore a surgical mask, entered a bank and demanded money.

In the first three robberies, he demanded money orally or with a note. But in the final heist, the man told a bank teller he had a gun, an arrest affidavit says.

Those robberies were among 21 that happened in 2019, a small decrease from the year before, Austin police data show. Bunting has also been accused of robbing a bank in September, police said.

Bank robberies in Austin had been increasing since 2014, when just eight were recorded. Last year had the first drop since then.

Of the 21 robberies, three remained unsolved at the end of 2019, Austin police detective Philip Hogue said.

“Anytime that you can decrease the number of bank robberies, that’s great,” he said.

Hogue, who has worked in the Austin Police Department’s robbery unit for nine years and has been on the FBI’s Central Texas Violent Crime Task Force for six, said catching bank robbers is a race against time as they can be unpredictable people.

“Our fear is that they’ll start out with a robbery note or something else like that, but the longer they tend to do it, we see that they start to escalate. That’s when we really start getting worried about someone getting injured because the violence tends to escalate,” Hogue said.

Police were after a person a few years back who robbed a bank using a note to demand money, Hogue said. By the time authorities caught the man during his third bank robbery, he was firing his gun into the ceiling of the bank, Hogue said.

Each bank robber could have a different reason for wanting to commit the crime, said Austin police Sgt. Randy Villanueva, who also works in the robbery unit.

Robbers can have some sort of addiction, such as to narcotics, alcohol or gambling, Hogue said. For others, something might have gone wrong in their life so that they think robbing a bank is the only option, he said.

“For some people, it’s just the thrill,” he said.

Robbers have worn glasses, ballcaps, wigs, surgical masks and sunglasses to disguise themselves, and some have dressed up as another gender, Villanueva said.

Some come armed with knives or firearms, Hogue said. Robbers have threatened tellers with bombs or said they have someone who is watching them, he said.

When a bank robbery happens, two investigations are opened: one with Austin police and one conducted by the FBI, Hogue said. The Violent Crimes Task Force provides training to financial institutions and other businesses on what to do in the event of a robbery, he said.

Seven of last year’s 21 robberies happened in October, but Hogue said a business can be robbed any day of the week at any time.

When a bank robbery occurs, police try to respond as quickly as possible to use surveillance video footage. Images of robbers are typically shared with the media and sometimes other law enforcement agencies, Villanueva said.

Hogue said a number of robbers are not from the area, and that makes them harder to find.

People who witness a bank robbery should not chase after the robbers, Villanueva said. Witnesses could take photos to give to police, he said.

“Study the individual. Don’t move quickly, because you don’t want to pin the focus on you, obviously,” he said.

Moving too quickly could escalate the situation or make the robber scared or paranoid, he said.

“Remain calm as best as you can,” he said.