From "top chef" to bottom dweller.
A "Famed California Chef" seems to have gone full nutso. The guy allegedly robbed three banks in a single day.
From The Daily Mail.
Valentino Luchin, 62, a former executive chef at the famed North Beach restaurant Rose Pistola and owner of the now-defunct Ottavio in Walnut Creek, was taken into custody by San Francisco police after a chaotic one-day robbery spree.
He was booked into San Francisco County Jail on multiple counts of robbery and attempted robbery and remains in custody as he awaits formal charges.
Believe it or not, this was not his first rodeo.
In 2018, he was arrested in Orinda on suspicion of robbing a Citibank, where he allegedly walked out with $18,000 in cash.
Italian chefs in San Francisco:
In the 2018 case, Luchin used a BB gun to commit the armed robbery, and claimed he didn't know how to even load a real gun. He even wrote an apology letter to the bank at the time, explaining that he'd been down on his luck since his former restaurant closed in 2016.
Looks like that apology didn't turn into contrition, because the Italian immigrant appears to be back to his old bank robbing ways after his failed restaurant career has resulted in him, once again, falling on hard times.
Witnesses at one of the targeted banks, located along the 1100 block of Grant Avenue near Chinatown, told police the suspect handed a teller a note that simply demanded money.
Out of fear, the teller complied, handing over a bag of dollars before the suspect fled.
Within hours, police linked Luchin to two additional bank robberies that day, all within the Central District, which includes North Beach, Russian Hill, and Union Square.
The chef was quickly identified by numerous community members (apparently it's a bad idea to rob banks without a mask when you are a celebrity chef?).
'Desperation leads you to do things you never thought you were capable of,' he said.
Watch out for those celebrity chefs, ladies and gents!
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