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SALT LAKE CITY — The man police dubbed the "Ski Bum Bandit" for his suspected role in robbing a string of banks is facing six felony charges.
Christopher Ryan Huntzinger, 42, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with six counts of aggravated robbery, all first-degree felonies.
Charges detail six robberies in Salt Lake County between Jan. 24 and March 29. In most of the robberies, the man involved displayed a note saying he had a gun and demanding the tellers to fill a plastic grocery sack with cash.
A note reading "I have a .357 hand gun!" was left behind at a University Federal Credit Union, 7220 S. Highland Drive, that was robbed Jan. 24, with fingerprints on it that investigators say belong to Huntzinger.
Investigators say Huntzinger wore a combination of different coats, knit hats, hoodies, scarves and sunglasses during the robberies, earning him the "Ski Bum Bandit" moniker. At the time of his arrest at a friend's house in Fruit Heights, Huntzinger told police the clothes were in his truck, charges state.
Huntzinger told police he was responsible for the robberies and that he acted alone, according to the charges.
Following Huntzinger's arrest, investigators noted that he has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, but he could not say at the time whether the money Huntzinger was allegedly stealing from banks was being used to support that habit.
In 2012, Huntzinger was arrested in Davis County and held for extradition to face charges in Idaho, according to Utah court records. The rest of his criminal history in Utah includes shoplifting, theft and drug-related cases in 1990 and 2004.
