Case:  23-2371126
 
Date:  Friday, August 25, 2023
 
Time:  4:30 p.m.
 
Location:  1825 South Pleasant Valley Road (Wells Fargo Bank)

Arrested:  Brian Galarza, Hispanic male, 35 years of age

UPDATE: On Wednesday, September 6, 2023, APD’s Violent Crimes Task Force arrested Brian Galarza. Galarza is charged with three counts of Robbery by Threat.

Anyone with any information should contact APD's Robbery unit at 512-974-5092. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.

ORIGINAL RELEASE

Case:                          23-2371126
 
Date:                          Friday, August 25, 2023
 
Time:                         4:30 p.m.
 
Location:                   1825 South Pleasant Valley Road (Wells Fargo Bank)
 

The Austin Police Department Robbery Unit needs the public’s help finding a man believed to be  connected to two robberies at Wells Fargo Banks.  The first one occurred on Friday, August 25, 2023, at the Wells Fargo bank, located at 1825 South Pleasant Valley Rd.  The man seen in the photos below, showed the teller a note demanding money. He then left the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The suspect is described as:

• White or Hispanic male
• Medium build
• Large tattoo across the throat and a tattoo on right wrist
• He was last seen wearing a white sun hat, a surgical mask, dark gray sweatpants, a gray long sleeve t-shirt, white Nike Air Jordan sneakers, and a gray neck gaiter. The t-shirt had the print “popeye” and “1929” on the chest, and "heavyweight champion of the world" on the back. 

 
 
Case:  23-2410820
 
Date:  Tuesday, August 29, 2023
 
Time:  1:50 p.m.
 
Location:  2326 South Congress Avenue (Wells Fargo Bank)
 
 
The second robbery happened on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, at approximately 1:50 p.m. APD Officers responded to Wells Fargo bank located at 2326 South Congress Avenue, approximately 2.5 miles away from the first robbery. The suspect again presented a note to the teller demanding money. Surveillance video from the bank helped detectives match the build of the suspect in the previous robbery. The suspect was also wearing some of the same clothing.
 

He was seen wearing:

• A white sun hat, a surgical mask, dark blue cargo pants, a gray long sleeve t-shirt, white sneakers, a neon green neck gaiter, and red-framed sunglasses around the neck.

Anyone with any information should contact APD's Robbery unit at 512-974-5092. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477. A reward of up to $1,000 may be available for any information that leads to an arrest.