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A Los Gatos man will soon face a federal court in a preliminary hearing that will determine whether he goes to trial for 28 robberies committed in Santa Clara County, and an unknown number in other areas.
Steven Lee, 38, was arrested Jan. 27 for allegedly robbing a World Savings Bank in San Jose earlier that day. Detectives from Los Gatos, Santa Clara and other local police departments had linked Lee to a number of other robberies, including three in Los Gatos. Detective John Campos of the Los GatosMonte Sereno Police Department said officers were already prepared to arrest Lee at his home for a previous Santa Clara robbery.
"Santa Clara Police had set up surveillance in the Los Gatos mountains," Campos said. "While waiting for him, he committed a robbery in San Jose."
Though he was driving a different car than one spotted at several of the robberies, Campos said a Santa Clara officer recognized Lee and was able to make the arrest.
Sgt. Brian Gilbert, a Santa Clara Police Department detective who also investigated the case, said the FBI is prosecuting Lee because of the number of robberies, amount of money stolen, and the number of different law enforcement jurisdictions involved in the case.
Gilbert said Lee will have a "status hearing" June 1 that will determine whether Lee will stand trial or make a plea, as well as the restitution amounts to the various banks from which he allegedly stole.
Though Campos said he expects Lee to plead out, that information was not yet known.
Law enforcement officials believe he is responsible for the robberies of Comerica Bank at 444 N Santa Cruz Ave. in January 2003, Citibank at 15879 Los Gatos Blvd. in February 2003, and Downey Savings at 14172 Blossom Hill Road in December 2003.
Campos said that according to surveillance cameras and eyewitnesses in the Los Gatos and other cases, a man matching Lee's description approached tellers with a note demanding money, and that a weapon was never shown. Lee was not carrying a weapon when arrested.
Detectives said Lee was unemployed at the time of the robberies, and is believed to have been covering his income by pretending to have painting jobs.
Gilbert said that, while bank robberies are not terribly unusual, Lee's is a fairly unique case.
"He was very good at getting away and leaving no clues or evidence," he said. "This is a pretty big case for the number of robberies he did in the short period of time."
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