By Christine Sellers
Copyright dailycaller
California police reportedly arrested a former chef and restaurant owner Wednesday after he robbed three banks in a single day.
Authorities charged Valentino Luchin, 62, with two counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery in connection with the Sept. 10 incidents, according to a San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) press release. Luchin served as Rose Pistola’s executive chef in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, KTLA reported. He also established Ottavio Osteria in Walnut Creek, California, but the restaurant closed in 2016.
Police said they responded to a robbery at a bank Wednesday on the 1100 block of Grant Avenue, where they learned a male came into the bank and allegedly turned over a note to the teller demanding money. The employee complied with the request and the suspect fled the bank, authorities said.
Two other robberies took place the same day in the Central District and involved a male suspect with a similar “modus operandi,” police said. With assistance from SFPD ambassadors and the community, police were allegedly able to identify Luchin as the suspect. Authorities apprehended him and he was taken to San Francisco County Jail, according to the press release.
Renowned California chef arrested for robbing three San Francisco banks in one day https://t.co/6NKzZXlQg4 pic.twitter.com/B7IvA9Spj7 — New York Post (@nypost) September 15, 2025
The Sept. 10 incident is not the first time Luchin has been accused of robbing a bank. Authorities arrested the former chef on suspicion of armed robbery back in 2018, according to KTLA.
Luchin spoke with the East Bay Times about the 2018 incident, claiming “desperation” over his finances is what prompted him to act.
“I thought it was a good plan,” Luchin told the outlet from jail. “But it was not.”
Witnesses said the suspect walked into a Citibank in Orinda, California, dressed in a black hooded sweater, black sunglasses and white gloves, aiming what appeared to be a semi-automatic pistol at a teller while demanding money, according to court documents.
“My action wasn’t aggressive,” he explained. “It was a fake gun. I don’t even know how to load a real gun.”
Luchin also said he wrote a letter to the teller apologizing for the incident. (RELATED: Burglar Sexually Assaults Sleeping Elderly Woman Before Stealing Her Pajamas, Police Say)
Luchin and his wife owed over $111,000 in liabilities after they’d defaulted on payments tied to a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan, bankruptcy records obtained by the East Bay Times showed. The couple only had a little over $27,000 in assets at the time, the outlet reported.
