ORLANDO — United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill has announced that Harvey William Ward, 64, of Dania Beach, known as the “Scruffy Bandit,” pled guilty Thursday in federal court to robbing two banks, including one in Vero Beach last December. Ward faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison in each case.
He told authorities he had “tried to control (his) impulse (to rob banks), but just couldn’t do it.”
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the facts presented at the plea hearing, in December 2011, Ward robbed two banks in neighboring counties. On Dec. 15, 2011, he entered a Vero Beach branch of Chase Bank, wearing bandages on his face to disguise his appearance.
Ward approached the teller line, pretended to have a firearm, and told bank employees that he would “blast them” if they did not give him the money.
He then fled the bank, after obtaining $3,887.
The following day, Ward robbed an Indialantic branch of TD Bank in the same manner.
He was later captured by law enforcement, and $3,091.50 in stolen bank funds were recovered.
According to the plea agreement, following his arrest, Ward advised the detectives that he had committed both bank robberies.
He added that at the time that he had committed these crimes, he was serving a term of supervised release for a previous bank robbery.
This case was investigated by the Vero Beach Police Department, the Indialantic Police Department and the Brevard Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.
