Chef charged with robbing 3 San Francisco banks in same day

A California chef has been arrested and charged with robbing three banks in San Francisco on the same day.

The 62-year-old was arrested and booked into jail, confirmed by department spokesperson Eve Laokwansathitaya.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, local court records showed that it was not the suspect’s first bank heist in Northern California.

The online records of Superior Court of San Francisco County showed that Valentino Luchin was being held on $200,000 bond on four counts of second-degree robbery.

Upon further investigation, it was confirmed that Luchin is accused of robbing banks on the 100 block of Grant Avenue, the 1400 block of Stockton Street, and the 400 block of Columbus Avenue.

The police news release said that during the first robbery, officers responded just after noon and learned a man had entered the business and passed a note to an employee demanding money.

The employee, fearing for their safety, complied and gave a bag of money to the man, who then immediately ran off.

Two days later, additional bank robberies occurred involving a similar suspect, for which Luchin was also allegedly responsible.

Luchin previously worked as an executive chef in an Italian restaurant in downtown Walnut Creek, located in the San Francisco Bay region until the restaurant closed in 2016. He is originally from Veneto in northeast Italy.

Luchin is scheduled to appear back in court for a preliminary hearing on September 24, 2025.