POLICE ARREST SUSPECT IN VALLEY BANK HEISTS.

Byline: Theresa Moreau Daily News Staff Writer

Police didn't find the so-called Jimmy Buffett bandit in Margaritaville. They said Monday they captured him here in Calabasas.

Benjamin Robert Bloom, 55, has been charged with two counts of robbery for heists at two Woodland Hills banks in August and September, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Bloom was arrested Sept. 25 at his home in Calabasas, said Los Angeles police Lt. Jim Grayson of the Robbery-Homicide Division.

``It was my understanding he knew it was going to occur,'' Grayson said. `It wasn't a surprise to him.''

Bloom's attorney, Christopher Melcher, said that Bloom would plead not guilty during his arraignment, scheduled for Friday at Van Nuys Municipal Court. Melcher declined to comment further.

At a lineup, victims of the robberies identified Bloom as the robber, Grayson said.

Investigators dubbed the robber the Jimmy Buffett bandit because he wore tropical attire during heists, including a Hawaiian shirt and snap-brim cap.

Bloom's arrest came after police received numerous tips when they publicly released a photo of the robber taken from one of the bank's surveillance cameras.

Police arrested Bloom on Thursday at his home in the 22500 block of Faubion Place, which assessors' records show is a three-bedroom, two-bath, single-story dwelling purchased in 1977 for $80,000.

Bloom is a self-employed insurance agent, authorities said.

``The motive for bank robbery is money,'' Grayson said. ``What other motive would it be?''

No one was injured in either bank robbery that police say they have tied to Bloom.

On Aug. 1, the man believed to be the Jimmy Buffett bandit robbed $4,585 from the Universal Bank at 21919 Erwin St., Woodland Hills, before making his getaway in a 1997 pearl-white Toyota sedan.

On his way out the door, he told one bank employee, ``Have a nice weekend,'' the employee said.

On Sept. 3, police believe the same robber walked into City National Bank at 21800 Oxnard St., Woodland Hills and made off with $2,220.

Bloom was being held Monday at the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, a court clerk said.