By Rounak Bagchi

Copyright timesnownews

Valentino Luchin, a well-known California chef who once helmed popular San Francisco restaurants, was arrested this week after authorities said he robbed three banks in a single day. Luchin, 62, was taken into custody at his home in the city’s Central District on Wednesday without incident, according to the San Francisco Police Department. He faces two charges of robbery and one of attempted robbery. The police said the string of robberies began when an employee reported that a man had handed them a note demanding money. “Fearing for their safety, the employee complied and provided the suspect with a bag of US currency,” the department said in a statement. The suspect fled, but authorities soon learned that two other banks in the area had been targeted the same day with what they described as a similar method. Investigators identified Luchin as the suspect after receiving tips from the community. The authorities did not disclose how much money was taken. It was not the first time Luchin had faced such accusations. In 2018, he was arrested after entering a Citibank branch with what appeared to be a firearm — later determined to be fake — and leaving with $18,000 in cash, according to news reports at the time. He was caught several hours later at a health club near his home. “At the time, I thought it was a good plan,” he told The East Bay Times in a jailhouse interview after that arrest. “But it was not.” He described himself then as financially desperate, saying the closure of his North Beach restaurant, Ottavio Osteria, in 2016 had left him struggling. An Italian-born chef, Luchin previously worked at Rose Pistola, a celebrated North Beach restaurant, before opening Ottavio Osteria. More recently, in 2022, he was reported by SFGate to have joined The Old Clam House, one of San Francisco’s oldest dining establishments, though it is unclear if he was still employed there at the time of his arrest. In his earlier interview, Luchin expressed remorse but also a kind of fatalism. “My action wasn’t aggressive. It was a fake gun. I don’t even know how to load a real gun,” he said. “Desperation leads you to do things you never thought you were capable of.” Asked then why he had done it, he offered a blunt reply: “S*** happens.” Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News and around the World.