The father of a man dubbed the "Bearded Bandit" by the FBI said his son made the wrong choice.The robber, identified as 30-year-old Kenneth Ellis, was arrested Wednesday in connection to 11 of bank robberies across Northern California, the FBI said.Ellis lives in Stockton and owned a game store in Modesto, which Ellis admitted was struggling, investigators said.“I don’t know if he felt trapped; I don’t know if he felt bad because he couldn’t pay his employees or what made him do it, but he did do it,” Ellis' father Kenneth Ellis Sr. said. “It’s my son, he got caught up, and he took the wrong option.”Ellis Sr. said his son was an overachiever who graduated from high school when he was just 15 years old.“I wish he had talked to me, and then maybe I could have did something,” Ellis Sr. said.Ellis was wanted in at least 11 bank robberies since Feb. 12, in addition to an attempted robbery and three casing incidents in cities throughout the Sacramento area and the Bay Area, according to investigators.Ellis was busy on March 1: he allegedly robbed the Chase Bank at 5010 Elk Grove Boulevard in Elk Grove, the Wells Fargo Bank at 3518 Marconi Avenue in Sacramento and attempted to rob a Wells Fargo Bank at 1235 Stratford Avenue in Dixon, the FBI said.The FBI worked with several Bay Area and Sacramento County law enforcement agencies in the search for the "Bearded Bandit."Ellis was spotted by a good Samaritan who recognized him from media coverage. He was taken into custody around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Brentwood after someone spotted him in a Safeway grocery store, the FBI said.___KCRA's Tom Miller contributed to this story.

The father of a man dubbed the "Bearded Bandit" by the FBI said his son made the wrong choice.

The robber, identified as 30-year-old Kenneth Ellis, was arrested Wednesday in connection to 11 of bank robberies across Northern California, the FBI said.


Ellis lives in Stockton and owned a game store in Modesto, which Ellis admitted was struggling, investigators said.

“I don’t know if he felt trapped; I don’t know if he felt bad because he couldn’t pay his employees or what made him do it, but he did do it,” Ellis' father Kenneth Ellis Sr. said. “It’s my son, he got caught up, and he took the wrong option.”

Ellis Sr. said his son was an overachiever who graduated from high school when he was just 15 years old.

“I wish he had talked to me, and then maybe I could have did something,” Ellis Sr. said.

Ellis was wanted in at least 11 bank robberies since Feb. 12, in addition to an attempted robbery and three casing incidents in cities throughout the Sacramento area and the Bay Area, according to investigators.

Ellis was busy on March 1: he allegedly robbed the Chase Bank at 5010 Elk Grove Boulevard in Elk Grove, the Wells Fargo Bank at 3518 Marconi Avenue in Sacramento and attempted to rob a Wells Fargo Bank at 1235 Stratford Avenue in Dixon, the FBI said.

The FBI worked with several Bay Area and Sacramento County law enforcement agencies in the search for the "Bearded Bandit."

Ellis was spotted by a good Samaritan who recognized him from media coverage. He was taken into custody around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Brentwood after someone spotted him in a Safeway grocery store, the FBI said.

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KCRA's Tom Miller contributed to this story.