A suspected bank robber who fled on foot was nabbed with a wad of cash stolen from Wells Fargo in Leesburg.
A teller was on duty at about 9:30 a.m. Monday at the bank at 2271 Citrus Blvd. when she was approached by 38-year-old Brandon J. Hooks of Lady Lake, according to the Leesburg Police Department. He handed the teller a note. The teller complied with the instructions on the note and Hooks fled from the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Alarms were triggered at the bank, notifying law enforcement.
Multiple officers responded to the bank area including patrol officers and detectives. An undercover detective spotted Hooks, who fit the description of the robber, walking and then running on Tally Road. The detective alerted other officers who converged on the area of Tally Box Road just south of Tally Road where they took Hooks into custody. The officers found Hooks to have a large quantity of U.S. currency. The money was later identified as having come from the bank. A bank employee identified Hooks as the robber.
Hooks had been released in March 2022 after serving five years in the Sumter County Jail for robbing a Wells Fargo branch bank in Lady Lake in 2017. He used the same technique in that case as was used in Monday’s heist.
Hooks is being charged with second degree bank robbery for the Leesburg offense.
