{"id":430104,"date":"2026-10-17T02:19:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T02:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/430104\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T02:19:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T02:19:03","slug":"gods-best-friend-is-a-bank-robber-masked-florida-man-accused-of-bizarre-bank-robberies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/430104\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018God\u2019s Best friend is a Bank Robber!\u2019 Masked Florida man accused of bizarre bank robberies"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2013 A Florida man has been put behind bars after a couple of bizarre bank robberies sprung up near Tampa, according to the United States Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

In a release, USAO officials said the man \u2014 identified as David Sartin, 40 \u2014 robbed a Largo bank back on Aug. 24. And on Sept. 15, he reportedly robbed another bank in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring both robberies, Sartin entered the bank wearing a prosthetic \u2018old man\u2019 mask, approached the teller counter and demanded money, and instructed the teller not to include dye packs,\u201d the release reads.<\/p>\n

\"\"Images of the suspect during the robberies (USAO)<\/p>\n

THE FIRST ROBBERY<\/p>\n

According to investigators, Sartin had arrived at a nearby gas station shortly before the first robbery.<\/p>\n

He then drove through the surrounding area before parking, switching to a bicycle, and approaching the bank, USAO officials noted.<\/p>\n

After the robbery, he fled on the bicycle, retrieved the staged vehicle, and drove off, investigators said. The vehicle was later spotted on sevel nearby roadways heading toward his house.<\/p>\n

\"\"After the robbery, Sartin is believed to have fled on a bicycle before retrieving a vehicle and driving off, according to investigators. (USAO)<\/p>\n

THE SECOND ROBBERY<\/p>\n

Surveillance footage caught Sartin leaving his house before the second robbery and returning afterward, detectives claimed.<\/p>\n

When the vehicle returned, a man resembling Sartin was spotted unloading a bicycle and rolling it toward the home, investigators said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next day, investigators observed Sartin spray paint the vehicle\u2019s white roof black, making the entire vehicle appear black in color,\u201d the release continues.<\/p>\n

\"\"An image of the suspect vehicle (USAO)<\/p>\n

SEARCHING HIS HOME<\/p>\n

USAO officials said law enforcement searched Sartin\u2019s house, uncovering the following items that appeared similar to those linked to the robberies:<\/p>\n

A bicycle<\/p>\n

A blue suit<\/p>\n

A black bag<\/p>\n

Materials covered in black spray paint<\/p>\n

A receipt for clothing bought the day before the second robbery<\/p>\n

\"\"Investigators said they found several items that appeared to match those used in the robberies. (USAO)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a search of Sartin\u2019s storage unit revealed a backpack and laptop bag with \u201cdisguise items\u201d matching those seen in the surveillance footage of the robberies, detectives said.<\/p>\n

Those disguise items reportedly included the \u201cold-man mask,\u201d dark-framed glasses, and work gloves with black paint on them.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, investigators explained the bags contained a fake handgun and clothing consistent with the disguise worn in the second robbery, including:<\/p>\n

A white dress shirt with black studs<\/p>\n

A pinstriped sports coat<\/p>\n

A dark-blue flat cap<\/p>\n

Black dress shoes and pants<\/p>\n

STRANGE JOURNAL<\/p>\n

But when agents searched another home where Sartin occassionaly stayed, they said they found some other strange items, such as a prosthetic mask (different from the ones used in the robberies,” and a journal titled, \u201cGod\u2019s Best friend is a Bank Robber! Uncle Henry Cops and Robbers the world through the eyes of a Bank Robber.\u201d<\/p>\n

That journal was reportedly dated Jan. 1, 2021, and was \u201cwritten by: David Sartin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials noted that one of the pages had a drawing of a character holding up a mask along with a handwritten phrase, \u201cMy face holding up uncle Henry, looking at it, Face to Face.<\/p>\n

A LONG CRIMINAL HISTORY<\/p>\n

At the time of the robberies, Sartin was on supervised release for a 2018 federal conviction stemming from five bank robberies he had committed in Texas back in 2016, officials added.<\/p>\n

Per the release, he wore a similar mask in those incidents and used the same vehicle that was involved in the recent Florida robberies. He was ultimately sentenced to over 10 years in federal prison.<\/p>\n

Sartin was also convicted in 2008 of attempted bank robbery after he and a co-conspirator tried robbing a bank wearing Halloween masks and disguises, the USAO stated.<\/p>\n

Now, Sartin faces two counts of bank robbery. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2013 A Florida man has been put behind bars after a couple of bizarre bank robberies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[265,28,4085,202,204,203,199,201,200,2546,135],"class_list":["post-430104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-crime","tag-florida","tag-largo","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-strange-florida","tag-tampa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}