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'Gauze Bandit' Caught, Official Says

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By LISA A. DAVIS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 14, 2008

Brian Brezina

Robber

HOLIDAY - In both instances, the robber walked into the bank, half his face covered with gauze bandages, and waited in line until it was his turn to step up to the teller.

At the SunTrust Bank at 2123 U.S. 19, Holiday, on Aug. 8, he told a teller, "Don't pull anything," according to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report.

Then he handed the teller a sloppily written note that read, "Give me your money."

Five days later, he strolled into the Bank of America, 4539 Bartelt Road, at 10:15 a.m. and handed a teller there a note stating: "Give me all your money including straps."

Shortly later, the sheriff's office put out a be-on-the-lookout bulletin for a Chevrolet Cavalier seen driving from the scene.

Cpl. Marshall Maseda saw a vehicle matching the car's description on Grand Boulevard, just south of Moog Road, and pulled it over. Maseda discovered the driver had an outstanding warrant and questioned him, according to sheriff's office spokesman Doug Tobin.

Soon, the corporal realized he had his man.

"The gauze bandit has been caught," Tobin said Thursday morning.

Inside Brian Duane Brezina's car, the corporal found a backpack filled with an "excessive amount of cash," clothes matching the suspect's description, a knife and gauze bandages, the report said.

"He looked like he was using the gauze to conceal his identity, but in the end it was the gauze that gave him away," Tobin said.

Brezina, according to reports, admitted to both the bank robberies. He faces two counts of bank robbery with a deadly weapon, driving while license suspended or revoked with knowledge, and an unrelated charge of contempt of court for not paying child support. Brezina, 47, of 5041 Springland Drive, is being held without bail at Land O' Lakes Jail.

Detectives are continuing to investigate, but as of Thursday, they did not link Brezina to any other bank robberies in Pasco.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

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