Posted on 09/16/2025 6:56:53 AM PDT by simpson96
A prominent Bay Area chef was arrested last week for allegedly robbing three San Francisco banks in a single day, authorities said.
Valentino Luchin, 62, of San Francisco, was taken into custody on Sept. 10 after allegedly passing notes demanding money to bank tellers at three separate locations in the city's Central District, according to the San Francisco Police Department. His bail is set at $200,000.
The first incident occurred around 12:02 p.m. when Luchin allegedly entered a bank in Chinatown and passed a note to an employee demanding money, police said. After receiving cash, he fled the scene. Two more banks in the Central District were allegedly robbed similarly that same day.
Investigators, aided by SFPD Ambassadors and community tips, identified Luchin as the suspect and arrested him without incident, police said. He was booked into San Francisco County Jail on charges of robbery and attempted robbery, authorities said.
The arrest marked Luchin's second brush with bank robbery charges. In 2018, he admitted to robbing a Citibank in Orinda, California, making off with over $15,000, according to an interview he gave ABC News owned station in San Francisco, KGO, from the Martinez detention facility at the time.
During that interview, Luchin, a distinguished Italian chef known for his expertise in regional cuisine and the former owner of Ottavio restaurant in Walnut Creek, blamed financial struggles after his establishment closed in 2016.(snip)
Before his legal troubles, Luchin had built a reputation in the culinary world, working in top restaurants worldwide and specializing in menu design and culinary management, according to Take a Chef. He previously served as executive chef at San Francisco's Italian restaurant Rose Pistola, where he was known for combining traditional Italian cooking methods with innovative techniques.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Crack’ll make you slap yo’ mamma!
Sounds like he needed to pay a loanshark back pronto.
Robbing banks still a crime in SF?
You can take the man out of Italy, but you can’t take Italy out of the man.
Quality ingredients are expensive.
Lol.
LOL
Man, rob some gas stations or something if all you are getting is $15K. Bank jobs are pretty much guaranteed to get you a reservation in a nice cell for a long time. The risk/reward ratio here is really bad.
“I have a gub.”
Excellent evil plan, Dr Sivana!
I guess he kneaded the dough
"Take the Money and Run" - a very funny movie.
Rose Pistola means pink pistol. In San Francisco. Is Rose Pistola a nod to the violent homosexual group Pink Pistols?
Pink Pistols? They didnt used to be particularly violent and seemed to be some of the more stable members of the left. Im pretty sure we even used to have a couple of them on this forum way back. Did this change when the trans took over in 2018?
OK, that was pretty good.
LOL
Very likely or something similar.
Perhaps.
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