Suspect in 10 North Texas bank holdups arrested

An Arlington woman accused of being the “black hoodie bandit” responsible for 10 North Texas bank holdups was arrested this week by Arlington police after they were summoned by employees of a bank on South Fielder Road who believed she was casing their bank, the U.S attorney’s office reported Friday.

After officers pulled over a car driven by Dana Campbell, 37, they saw a black hooded jacket on the front passenger seat with a handwritten note in a pocket that read “This is a robbery. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

After getting a search warrant, officers also found in the car a ledger with dates and the addresses of Dallas-Fort Worth area banks. The addresses and dates corresponded with bank robberies, according to a news release.

Campbell appeared in federal court in Fort Worth on Friday. U.S. Magistrate Jeffrey L. Cureton ordered her to remain jailed until a detention hearing Wednesday.

Campbell is accused of robberies since November, nine of them First Convenience Banks. The tenth was a Woodforest National Bank in Arlington. All were branch banks inside grocery stores.

The “black hoodie bandit” was described as a short black woman weighing about 150 pounds. At each robbery, she wore dark sunglasses, black gloves, a hooded jacket, black leggings and white tennis shoes. She always carried a purse; at one holdup, the purse was black with metal decorative studs.

First Convenience Bank officials placed posters with surveillance photos from the robberies at all their branches.

According to the news release, the most recent robbery was about 1:30 p.m. March 10 at a First Convenience Bank inside the Kroger store at 2475 Ascension Blvd. in Arlington. A woman wearing a beanie cap, dark sunglasses, a black hooded jacket and black gloves approached a teller. Another customer looked at her, then at one of the posters, and said, “Are you the one who has been robbing all the banks?”

The customer warned the tellers that they were about to be robbed and quickly left. The robber ordered the tellers to “give me all the money” and “hurry up.” They gave her money from a cash drawer and she fled.

On Monday, two bank employees were greeting customers near the entrance of the Kroger store at 2210 S. Fielder Road in Arlington when they saw a woman matching the posters’ description enter the store. She walked past them, went down an aisle and out of the store.

Witnesses saw her walk to a gray sedan and drive away, and called police.

Minutes later, Arlington patrol officers pulled the car over, and learned that the driver, Campbell, had outstanding misdemeanor traffic warrants. They also saw the hooded jacket and got a search warrant. In addition to the ledger, investigators found sunglasses, black gloves, a black beanie hat with a brim, and a black leather purse with studs.

Along with FBI agents, the case was investigated by Arlington, Grand Prairie, Irving, Mansfield, McKinney and Mesquite police.

If convicted of bank robbery, Campbell faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Suspect in 10 North Texas bank holdups arrested."