Florida Man Charged After ‘Old‑Man’ Mask Bank Heists

Fla. — A 40‑year‑old man from Florida has found himself back in federal court after allegedly pulling off two bank robberies in August and September of this year. The suspect, identified as David Sartin Jr., reportedly strutted into each branch wearing a ridiculous "old‑man" mask — complete with a gray moustache and whiskers — and demanded cash while brandishing a counterfeit firearm.

According to an Oct. 16 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, investigators tied the mask to the crimes after a routine search of a storage unit that belonged to Sartin Jr. Inside they uncovered a fake gun, several cash‑related items, and, most notably, the very mask seen on surveillance video from both robberies.

The same investigation also led officers to a modest home where Sartin Jr. sometimes stayed. There, they found a weather‑worn journal dated Jan. 1, 2021. Its title read, "God's Best Friend is a Bank Robber! Uncle Henry Cops and Robbers the world through the eyes of a Bank Robber," and a page featured a doodle of a figure holding up a mask with the handwritten note, "My face holding up uncle Henry, looking at it, Face to Face." The journal was signed "David Sartin," further cementing the link.

What makes this case especially curious is that Sartin Jr. was already on supervised release at the time of the August‑September robberies. He had been serving that release after a 2018 federal conviction that stemmed from five separate bank heists he committed in Texas back in 2016 — a spree in which he also donned a similar elderly disguise. Prior to that, he was convicted of attempted bank robbery in 2008.

Federal prosecutors allege that Sartin Jr. used the mask and the fake gun to intimidate tellers, pocketing cash before fleeing the scenes. He now faces new charges that could add years to his already lengthy criminal record.

ABC News reached out to Sartin Jr.’s attorney, whose name appears on the court docket, for comment. No response had been received at the time of publication.