'Plain Jane Bandit' Believed Caught After Eight Heists

Aug. 3, 2012 — -- The "Plain Jane Bandit," who is believed to be responsible for eight bank heists or attempted bank robberies in Southern California, has been arrested, officials said.

"She was a little more brazen that most bank robbers," said FBI spokeswoman Laura I. Miller.

Sylvia Helen Garcia, 38, was captured near her home in Downey, Calif., late Thursday, according to ABC News' Los Angeles affiliate KABC.

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The FBI reportedly received multiple tips about Garcia.

The Plain Jane Bandit has been linked to six bank robberies and two attempted bank robberies in three counties around Southern California since July 12. The most recent attempt by the Plain Jane Bandit was on Tuesday, but she left before getting any money.

In all eight instances, she used both written and verbal demands and told the bank teller that an accomplice was waiting outside, the FBI said. She allegedly stole hundreds, not millions, of dollars.

Authorities did not say how much money was stolen, but witnesses described the robber as a Hispanic woman in her mid-30s, between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-5 and weighing 150 to 170 pounds. She did not wear a disguise.

The nickname came from a witness' description of the robber as a "plain Jane."

The FBI's Miller said the agency named bank robbers to keep better track of them.

"[The] byproduct is if the media likes the name and the public likes the name ... that leads to tips," she said.

The robber was linked to a silver four-door vehicle, though the alleged accomplice had not been seen. Authorities said an officer responded to one tip that described the robber's silver car. That officer went to the location of the car and took a woman fitting the robber's description into custody.

U.S. Bank, which had five branches robbed, had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the robber's arrest and conviction.