Ceres Police Seek Cross-Dressing Suspect In Bank Robbery
CERES (CBS13) - He's big. He's bold. He wore a wig, a miniskirt, and that cross-dressing man had crime on his mind.
An officer recognized an alleged cross-dressing criminal, and Ceres police say Leonard Brown Jr. is on the run.
"Man, he made it hard to tell if it was really him, didn't he," said Bank of America customer Carson Ludwig.
He went to great lengths, cops say, dressing in drag from head to toe.
He donned a black wig and carried a purple purse.
"It looks like a woman there, the wig, the clothes, the purse, the way he holds the purse," said Bank of America customer Eli Seo.
Police say the bank robber wore a black miniskirt and black stretchy pants.
"I don't know if I really want to see that to be honest," said Ludwig.
Bank of America customers, where the robbery happened last Tuesday, are calling the fashion police.
"Too much black all at once, he needs to throw it off with some other colors," customer Sabrina Machado said.
Dubbed the "Stretchy Pants Bandit," cops say he took off down the street.
"(Police) told us, 'oh you know about the guy next door?' They believed he was in there," said neighbor Rachel Vasquez.
Just a block from the bank, the SWAT team searched an apartment complex. Neighbors say they concentrated on one apartment in particular. They didn't find the suspect, but they did find his disguise stuffed in a dumpster.
"The wig, I think the clothes, the shoes and like two bags," Vasquez said of the items that were found.
He reportedly wore flats, not heels.
The drag had some completely fooled, but not to the cops, who say one officer, familiar with Brown sans wig, took one look at the surveillance and knew it was him.
Ceres police believe the Brown may be hiding out in the Merced area.
