Jurors saw a video allegedly made by the “Chameleon Bandit” of himself with bank cash scattered in the back seat of a car following a Chula Vista bank robbery.
The trial of the “Chameleon Bandit” began Jan. 25 in the case against Darius Demon Lake, 29, who is charged with robbing the Navy Federal Credit Union in Chula Vista on Oct. 27, 2017.
His lawyer, Jeremy Thornton, told jurors Lake is not the bandit and “they have charged the wrong person.”
Lake, of El Cajon, is charged with holding up five other banks in El Cajon, Point Loma, and San Marcos. He was given the nickname because of his changing appearance in different hold-ups.
Lake is charged with 12 counts of robbery and one attempted robbery in which multiple tellers and customers were held up in six incidents from Oct. 5 to Oct. 27, 2017.
“He recorded a selfie,” said Deputy District Attorney Lucille Yturralde to jurors in her opening statement.
Yturralde showed a short video apparently made by Lake in which the robber shows cash scattered in the back seat of a car. Yturralde said Lake recorded it on his cell phone, and it was recovered by police.
Yturralde said Lake wore disguises that covered his tattoos, and “grits his teeth” during the hold-ups.
“He knew what he is going. It was a very planned event,” said Yturralde. “He would tell witnesses to get on the ground. He would curse at the victims.”
She said a gun was never seen, but he maneuvered his hands that implied he had a weapon.
Yturralde said police recovered Lake’s palm print on a bank counter and after his arrest was told that information. She said when police told him of the “Chameleon Bandit” nickname, Lake laughed and said “I love it.”
“I thought you were gonna call me the Clean Getaway Bandit,” Lake responded to police, according to the prosecutor.
Lake’s attorney, Jeremy Thornton, told the seven woman, five man jury and San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert O’Neill that bank camera photos will show the actual robber, but it was not Lake in the photos.
“Mr. Lake is not that robber. They have charged the wrong person,” said Thornton. “It wasn’t my client.”
“Mr. Lake was a marked man,” said Thornton.
“I followed procedure. He threatened to kill me three times,” said the former employee of one bank, whose name is not being used because she said, “I was really scared.”
Another witness said she had a panic attack and was shaking after the robbery.
Lake has pleaded not guilty. He was arrested Oct. 29, and remains in jail on $500,000 bail.
Lake pleaded guilty to robbing three banks in 2012 and was sentenced to five years in federal prison, according to federal court records.
