RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A former Pomona police sergeant has been arrested in connection with a series of bank robberies in Escondido, Glendora and Rancho Cucamonga.

Frank Holder, 61, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Rancho Cucamonga after he allegedly robbed a bank, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Witnesses inside the bank were able to describe the suspect to deputies at the scene, Eimiller said.

San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies then stopped a vehicle nearby with Holder in it. The suspect description matched Holder.

Holder, a Phelan resident, was identified and booked into Central Detention Center in San Bernardino on suspicion of bank robbery, Eimiller said.

FBI investigators dubbed Holder the "Grandpa Bandit."

Holder got his nickname because witnesses would say, "He appeared to be a grandfatherly figure," Eimiller said.

Holder is set to appear at 2p.m. today in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

Pomona Police Chief Joe Romero confirmed Thursday that Holder is a former employee.

Holder transferred in 1974 from the Montclair Police Department to the Pomona Police Department.

He was promoted to senior police officer in 1987 and became a sergeant in 1991, Romero said.

Holder retired from duty in 2004 under honorable circumstances.

"He worked a variety of assignments," Romero said.

News of Holder's arrest came as a shock to people who worked with him, Romero said.

"It is totally out of his character," he said.

jannise.johnson@inlandnewspapers.com

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