"At this point, it's probably safe to say that Valentino Luchin is better at cooking risotto, calamari, and grilled lamb sirloin than he is at robbing banks. In 2018, the celebrated chef and former owner of an Italian restaurant in Walnut Creek pleaded guilty to robbing an Orinda bank and received a yearlong jail sentence, followed by probation. Now he's back in jail, this time in San Francisco, where prosecutors accuse him of robbing three banks within a single day, court records show."
"The following year, he declared bankruptcy in federal court, records show. He explained in the interview that he'd used a fake gun to rob a Citibank in Orinda of about $18,000 before allegedly driving off in a late model black Mercedes. I thought it was a good plan, Luchin said in 2018, But it was not. Luchin was arrested just hours after the robbery, with the money and a BB gun, police said at the time."
"This time around, San Francisco police say Luchin, 62, robbed three banks across the city on Sept. 10, starting around noon when he allegedly used a demanding note to steal a bag of cash from a bank on the 1100 block of Grant Avenue. Police determined he was responsible for two other similar robberies that same day. Luchin remains in San Francisco County jail, in lieu of $200,000 bail, facing four second degree robbery and attempted charges, according to the jail booking log."
Valentino Luchin, a 62-year-old former chef and owner of the now-defunct Ottavio restaurant, is jailed in San Francisco on accusations of robbing three banks on a single day. He allegedly used a demanding note to steal a bag of cash at one location and was linked to two similar robberies the same day. Luchin previously pleaded guilty in 2018 to robbing a Citibank in Orinda using a fake gun, was arrested hours later with money and a BB gun, and received a yearlong sentence and probation. He declared bankruptcy the following year. Luchin immigrated from Italy in 1993 and worked as an executive chef before opening Ottavio in 2010; the restaurant closed in 2016.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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