By Scott Wong

Bank robbers struck two Los Altos banks in less than four days last month, just days before the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported an increase in violent crimes, which include murder, rape and robbery, for fiscal 2001 — the first such rise in 10 years.

Despite recent statistics, crime in Los Altos is down this year and last month’s robberies can be attributed to the fast-approaching holiday season and other variables coupled with a sagging economy, police said.

“In the last few months we’ve been blessed with very few (robberies),” police Sgt. John Hughmanick said.

Last year, Los Altos bank robberies numbered lower than those in the mid-1990s. In 2001, there were five for the year; in 1995, 18; and in 1994, 23.

Hughmanick said the soft economy and poor job market are certainly factors in the types of crimes that are occurring, but he emphasized the problem should be looked at from a global perspective.

“We’re seeing a rise in certain types of drug arrests,” he said. “We’re dealing with a lot more methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug. There’s a high correlation between people being addicted to drugs and people needing money.”

And as the holiday season grows nearer, police generally notice a spike in crime, Hughmanick added.

A white male suspect, described as 6 feet 1 inch tall, in his mid-30s, robbed the Bank of the West at 176 Main St. on Oct. 28, escaping with $1,000 in cash through a rear exit, according to police.

The suspect had short brown hair and was wearing a baseball cap, a red sweatshirt, baggy shorts and tennis shoes. He did not appear to have a weapon, police said.

Two suspects are also wanted in connection with an Oct. 25 robbery at the Bank of America at Loyola Corners shopping district in Los Altos. In that incident approximately $18,000 was stolen.

Both suspects are described as white males, in their late teens to early 20s, approximately 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 7 inches tall, and weighing 140-150 pounds. In that heist, police said, one suspect pressed a gun to an employee’s head.

For one Los Altos employee, though, violent crimes come with the territory whenever money is handled.

“I just think it’s unfortunately the cost of doing business,” said Joanne Kavalaris, vice president and manager of Bank of the West in downtown Los Altos. “No community is immune.”

During her 18 years working at the various banks that have occupied the bank’s building, Kavalaris said, she could recall only one other robbery, which occurred last December.

The recent Los Altos robberies followed other high-profile crimes that have taken place in the area. A white male suspect fled from police empty-handed after threatening a Los Altos couple at gunpoint in their home on Sunkist Lane Aug. 14. Two black male suspects shot and killed a Burlingame Wells Fargo bank manager and injured another employee Oct. 11.

However, it appears it’s not only men who are committing local crimes.

Unique Nails on El Camino Real in Mountain View has been defrauded three times in the last month by women who evaded paying over $180 for manicures and pedicures, according to Phuong Tran, who has owned the salon since 1990.

“In over 10 years, I never had this happen — but now it’s happened three times this month,” she said. “The economy is really bad, and they think I am very easy to steal from.”

The suspects, whom Tran described as “well-dressed,” Hispanic and in their mid-20s, left empty purses, wallets and out-of-state driver’s licenses as security deposits while they supposedly went to retrieve money. But they never returned.

Mountain View police said the case is currently under investigation.

“I think these people will go around to other salons and do it again,” Tran said.

In the wake of the bank robberies, Los Altos police are advising bank employees to be increasingly vigilant.

“It’s very common for these folks to case the bank a few days or up to a week prior to the robbery, so banks should contact everyone who comes into the bank,” Hughmanick said.

Investigators are currently reviewing the banks’ surveillance tapes taken at the time of the robberies and comparing notes with other Bay Area departments of cities that have been hit with similar crimes, according to Hughmanick.

But Hughmanick said police are unable to review surveillance tapes prior to the time of the robbery due to manpower and time constraints.

“We don’t have the investigative time to put into that,” he said. “It would require hundreds of hours.”