'Sleeves' chase damaged 3 cars

In his attempt to evade police last Friday, bank robbery suspect Michael Anthony Koselka — known to law enforcement agencies throughout California as the "Sleeves Bandit"— totaled one police car and seriously damaged two others, according to Marysville Police.

Koselka, 54, whose Saab reached speeds of up to 60 mph during the late afternoon chase in a neighborhood just west of the downtown area, was eventually apprehended.

But the car wreck now leaves the city's police officers short on transportation, and long on financial headaches.

Replacement and repair costs for the three vehicles will total nearly $8,000, Sgt. John Osbourn said.

"Spending that much on your fleet at one time is financially difficult, especially considering the economic conditions now," he said.

The worst of the damage was to a used Ford Crown Victoria patrol car, which Osbourn said would have cost twice as much to repair as the $3,500 the department spent to acquire it.

Two other vehicles, including the newest in the fleet — a 2006 unmarked car — sustained a total of $4,400 in damages.

According to Capt. Mike Wilson, the insurance deductible for each patrol car is $2,500. The cost to repair at least one of the cars damaged last week "does not exceed that deductible amount."

Budget constraints require the agency to buy most of its cars at auction. Many have been driven more than 100,000 miles beforehand.

Marysville's loss comes at a time when the Police Department already is operating under a staffing shortage, and the city is unable to provide its own animal control services.

With unemployment rising, Osbourn said, property crimes are on the rise, and with the city's inability to fill vacant positions left open during the last year "arrests are going to go down."

The Police Department is hoping to land a federal law enforcement hiring grant which would allow the hiring of three badly needed new officers. Applications for the grant are due April 14, and city officials hope to learn the outcome within the next few months.

After the April 3 pursuit, which followed a Tri-Counties Bank robbery on E Street, Koselka, an Aptos resident, was arrested for armed bank robbery, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, evading police officers, and possession of a controlled substance.

According to police, Koselka, nicknamed the "Sleeves Bandit" for a shirt he has been seen wearing during heists, and which bears mock tattoos on the sleeves, served prison time in the 1990s for 16 bank robberies he admitted to committing between Monterey County and Los Angeles Counties.

In addition to his alleged crimes in Marysville, the FBI has connected him to at least 15 bank robberies throughout the state.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Nancy Pasternack at 749-4712 or at npasternack@appealdemocrat.com.