A St. Petersburg man already convicted of bank robbery is facing new federal charges after investigators say he robbed two Pinellas County banks while on supervised release, using the same “old man” disguise he wore in earlier crimes.
David Sartin Jr., 40, is charged with two counts of bank robbery following holdups at a Valley Bank in Largo and a Truist Bank in St. Petersburg, according to a federal criminal complaint. Sartin’s supervised release began in May 2025 after he served more than 10 years in federal prison for five bank robberies in Texas, where he wore a similar mask.
“In all of SARTIN JR.’s bank robberies, he used a mask,” an FBI special agent wrote in the affidavit.
The Largo robbery
Investigators say the first robbery happened Aug. 24 at the Valley Bank in Largo. The suspect walked in wearing a straw hat, sports jacket, gloves and a prosthetic face covering, approached a teller and demanded money while warning, “no dye packs,” according to the complaint.
As the teller gathered cash and quietly triggered a silent alarm, the robber repeatedly pressed the employee to move faster, a bank manager told investigators. Before leaving with $2,900, he reportedly told the teller, “Until we meet again.”
Authorities say he wedged a yellow wet-floor sign between the exit doors to slow anyone following him, then fled toward a nearby church. Surveillance footage showed him grabbing a bicycle, riding into a nature preserve and driving off in a Toyota FJ Cruiser.
Investigators pieced together the vehicle’s route using footage from nearby businesses, city trucks, a police cruiser and even a school bus. They say the Toyota matched the vehicle used in several of Sartin’s earlier Texas robberies.
A second holdup in St. Petersburg
On Sept. 15, a man wearing a flat cap, glasses, a sports jacket and an “old man” mask with a gray mustache and whiskers entered a Truist Bank in St. Petersburg, according to the complaint. He handed a teller a note demanding cash without dye packs and left with roughly $2,554.
The teller told investigators the man didn’t move like someone elderly and suspected he was wearing a mask.
By that point, the FBI had already placed a surveillance camera on Sartin’s home. Investigators say footage showed the Toyota leaving before the robbery and returning afterward, when a man resembling Sartin unloaded a bicycle. The next evening, agents watched him spray-paint the vehicle’s white roof black, according to the affidavit.
Arrest and search
Sartin was arrested Sept. 19 on a warrant for violating the terms of his supervised release. Authorities say searches turned up a bicycle and clothing matching what was seen in robbery surveillance video.
Agents also searched a storage unit tied to Sartin and say they found an “old man” mask matching the one used in both robberies, along with glasses, clothing and a fake handgun. In a guest room where Sartin sometimes stayed, investigators found a second mask and a journal they say he authored, with a title page reading, “God’s Best friend is a Bank Robber!”
Sartin’s criminal history dates back nearly two decades. He was convicted of attempted bank robbery in Mississippi in 2008 after a failed holdup involving Halloween masks and disguises, and was sentenced in 2018 to 10 years and one month in federal prison for the Texas robberies.
He now faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the two new charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
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