FBI: S.F. bank robber strikes again

Photo: Google Maps Castalon Taylor was arrested for robbing a U.S. Bank on Mission St....

Castalon Taylor helped to rob a San Francisco bank in 1996 and served more than 15 years behind bars.

On Friday, Taylor, 53, robbed another bank in San Francisco, according to the FBI.

About 12:50 p.m., a man walked into the U.S. Bank at 2601 Mission St. near 22nd Street in the city’s Mission District and told a teller, “This is a robbery, no note, I have a gun, give me all your money,” FBI Special Agent Aleksandr Kobzanets wrote in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

The teller told the robber that he would have to unlock the drawer.

“The robber started getting nervous and stated again, more aggressively, 'I have a 9mm gun, hurry up or I will start killing everyone,’” the affidavit says.

The teller handed the man $2,353, authorities said.

A San Francisco police officer detained a possible suspect a few blocks away, but he wasn’t the robber, Kobzanets wrote.

An officer, federal probation officer and the teller later positively identified Taylor as the suspect, and he was arrested, authorities said.

In 1996, Taylor was among several suspects who robbed the Bank of America at 1649 Ocean Ave. The three pulled out a gun, ordered customers to lie on the floor and made off with $11,000.

After serving time in federal prison, Taylor was placed on supervised release. In separate incidents in January of this year, he brandished a knife and was caught stealing 15 cans of instant coffee and $309 worth of candy from an Andronico’s grocery store in San Francisco, authorities said.

Taylor alleged robbed the U.S. Bank a week after being kicked out of a community corrections center, records show.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee



