July 24--Retired Los Angeles police Det. Randolph Bruce Adair lived on a modest pension. But he had a heavy gambling habit, according to a federal affidavit.
And that, to investigators, goes a long way in explaining how the white-haired 70-year-old former lawman earned the nickname the "Snowbird Bandit" after five bank robberies.
Adair remained jailed Friday, days after his wife, daughter and his daughter's husband called authorities to report that he was the bank robber, according to the U.S. District Court federal affidavit.
Adair's family members saw recent news reports about the Snowbird Bandit and recognized the thief in surveillance photographs.
When Adair was arrested Wednesday in a parking lot in Rancho Santa Margarita, investigators found $1,120 in Del Mar race track betting receipts inside his red 2010 Dodge Nitro, according to the affidavit.
At the police station, deputies showed Adair surveillance photographs from one of the robberies, and he allegedly uttered: "I'm cooked, I think I should have a lawyer."
Adair was named in a criminal complaint accusing him of stealing $1,658 from the First Citizens Bank in Rancho Santa Margarita on Tuesday.
In a federal affidavit issued Friday, FBI Special Agent Christopher Gicking says the former Rampart Division detective walked into the bank, approached the teller and presented a demand note.
Adair said nothing, but the note spoke loudly.
"I have a gun, give me large bills. No trash," it read.
Fearing for her safety, the teller grabbed cash from her drawer and gave it to him. During the robbery, Gicking said Adair wore a light green shirt, eyeglasses and a tan fedora.
Surveillance video showed that the robber resembled the Snowbird Bandit, who had been the subject of a manhunt by the FBI and the Orange County Sheriff's Department since March, according to the affidavit.
When Adair was arrested, investigators found a receipt showing he deposited $300 into his wife's bank account, and a receipt for a $100 cash deposit in his own bank account, according to the affidavit. The deposits were made Wednesday, a day after the robbery.
Investigators recovered a .35-caliber revolver under the front seat of his Dodge.
His daughter later notified investigators about a storage locker she shared with Adair. Inside the storage locker, investigators found a tan fedora and light green shirt similar to the one the robber wore during Tuesday's robbery, the affidavit said.
Adair was with the Los Angeles Police Department for 21 years.
He was hired by the department in December 1967 and retired on Oct. 5, 1988, said Officer Liliana Preciado, a police spokeswoman.
In 2000, Adair filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and the case was later discharged, according to U.S. District Court documents.
This year, Adair received $34,408 from his pension, according to Ray Ciranna, general manager of the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions. Adair's monthly pension was $2,868.80 as of July 1.
Times staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report.
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