Bank robbery suspect tied to 7-Eleven machete holdups

A bank robber, who police say is William Kaufmann, is seen in a surveillance photo. A bank robber, who police say is William Kaufmann, is seen in a surveillance photo. Photo: San Jose Police Photo: San Jose Police Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Bank robbery suspect tied to 7-Eleven machete holdups 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

A man arrested in connection with an armed bank robbery in San Jose has been implicated in the holdups of two 7-Eleven stores in which he carried a machete, police said Wednesday.

William Kaufmann, 27, of San Jose was arrested Jan. 13, four days after he allegedly walked up to the counter of the U.S. Bank inside the Safeway store at 1530 Hamilton Ave. The robber showed a gun to the teller and demanded money. After getting an undisclosed amount of cash, the robber fled, police said.

Detectives determined Kaufmann was the man who robbed two 7-Eleven stores on Dec. 9 while armed with a machete, police said.

Kaufmann is being held at Santa Clara County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

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