Retired Pasadena cop arrested in La Habra bank robbery

Federal agents arrested a retired Pasadena police officer Wednesday morning in connection with a recent La Habra bank robbery, and agents are investigating any link to a string of similar robberies attributed to “the Polite Bandit,” authorities said.

Vincent Cantu, 44, of Whittier was arrested at 9 a.m. in his car near his Whittier home, said Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman. Authorities later searched his home.

Cantu was in federal custody Wednesday afternoon at Santa Ana Jail awaiting a court appearance today in U.S. District Court, Eimiller said.

La Habra police arrested Cantu on suspicion of robbery Aug. 15 and released him the next day on bond. That arrest came after police spotted him driving away from the Banco Popular on Whittier Boulevard after a robbery there, La Habra police spokeswoman Cindy Knapp said. Cantu’s car, a silver Toyota FJ Cruiser, fit the description of the robber’s vehicle, Knapp said.

Federal agents are investigating Cantu’s connection to five other bank robberies committed in La Habra and La Mirada since 2005 by the “Polite Bandit.”

Bank tellers and other witnesses describe the bandit as a sympathetic man armed with a semi-automatic handgun who apologized for robbing them, saying “I’m sorry to do this to you, guy, just give me all your money,” and “Call the cops in five minutes,” Eimiller said.

“We’re gathering evidence to determine whether he is linked to those robberies,” she said of Cantu.

Cantu, who could not be reached for comment, has hired a defense attorney. He retired from the Pasadena Police Department after eight years in 1996, a department spokeswoman has said. He had a license to carry a concealed weapon, Eimiller said, although it was not clear if that weapon fit the description of the one used by the “Polite Bandit.”

 molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com