Man tricked SLO bank tellers with penny-filled dime rolls, police say

A 48-year-old transient from Los Angeles has been booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail for allegedly burglarizing two local banks by passing off rolled-up pennies as dimes.

The San Luis Obispo Police Department said Carl Bellenir entered the Santa Barbara Bank & Trust branch at 9965 Higuera on Feb. 5 to cash in rolled coins. Bellenir’s coin rolls had dimes at the ends and pennies in between, police said, creating a financial loss for the bank.

Bellenir got away that day, but came back on Feb. 6 at approximately 10:19 a.m. with more rolled coins. A bank employee opened the rolls and called police.

Bellenir, meanwhile, had left the bank and gone to the Bank of America at 1105 Higuera St., where he “successfully committed the same fraud.”

Witnesses provided a description, and police found Bellenir a few blocks away, on a bicycle, “in possession of more change to continue his crime spree at local banks.”

Bellenir is being held in lieu of $20,000 bail.

This story was originally published February 8, 2013 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Man tricked SLO bank tellers with penny-filled dime rolls, police say."