A 23-year-old homeless man who was in police custody for a street robbery near Ala Moana Center was arrested on suspicion of robbing two Honolulu banks, and may be responsible for two others.

An anonymous informant gave the name of the man to police, and he was arrested on suspicion of first- and second-degree robbery.

Michael Schturmgeist was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of robbing the Ward Avenue branch of First Hawaiian Bank on Feb. 16. In that case, the robber wore a black face mask and made a verbal demand for money, then fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Police also arrested him for first-degree robbery in the March 1 holdup of Central Pacific Bank on South Beretania Street. In that incident, the suspect wore a surgical mask and was armed with a handgun when he approached the teller. It was the seventh Honolulu bank robbery in a span of three weeks.

Schturmgeist was arrested Monday for robbing a 22-year-old man on Kona Street on Feb. 23. In that case, Schturmgeist approached the man at 3:30 a.m. and allegedly pushed him down, causing him to hit his head on the ground. He allegedly held him down, removed money from the man's pants pocket and fled.

Police have charged Schturmgeist with second-degree robbery and his bail was set at $250,000.

Police had solved three of the seven bank holdup cases for the year, and Schturmgeist's arrest could solve the remaining four.

“;We are successful in catching the bank robbers, but it's due to the public's help in letting us know and giving us information,”; said CrimeStoppers coordinator Sgt. Kim Buffett.

Police were still interviewing witnesses yesterday in two other bank robberies to see whether they could identify Schturmgeist in connection with those.

The First Hawaiian Bank branch at 250 Ward Ave. was also robbed on Feb. 11 and Feb. 24. In the latter case, the suspect also brandished a handgun. Police believe the suspect in the Feb. 11 case was probably the same person, so Schturmgeist could be responsible for the Feb. 11 robbery as well.

The physical description for the robbery suspects in the cases is similar.