Washington Mutual Assistant Manager David Nguyen was covering one of the teller positions Nov. 19 when a nervous young man in a beanie and a hooded sweatshirt passed him a note demanding cash. “He was just trying to get something in and out—that’s quick,” Nguyen says.

Nguyen handed over the cash from his drawer and the man took off, expressing no interest in getting into the safe. But it wasn’t a onetime hit. Someone wearing the same cap was caught on tape at banks throughout the north suburbs. While putting together a profile of the guy, believed to be in his 20s, about 5 feet 8 inches, and 150 pounds, someone thought his large nose brought a certain Muppet character to mind.

For those who didn’t watch the Muppet Christmas Carol two weeks ago, Beaker is the sidekick to Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. Generally a kind and docile member of the laboratory team, Beaker’s language of origin consists of a series of “meeps” and cooing noises. His most identifiable feature is his enormous honker. Images of the bank robber show him to have a similarly well-endowed facial feature, so law enforcement gave him the handle “Beaker Bandit.”

The Beaker Bandit’s spree began at Nguyen’s Washington Mutual in Kirkland on Oct. 17, according to information provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (a different teller was the victim that time). He is then alleged to have proceeded with almost payday regularity to hit an Alaska USA Credit Union in Kirkland, two more Washington Mutuals in Bothell and Everett, the Washington Mutual in Kirkland he first robbed, a Verity Credit Union in Lynnwood, and finally a second Washington Mutual in Kirkland.

In three photos obtained from various crime scenes, he’s wearing the same knit cap but different hooded sweatshirts. The FBI declined to give further details, except to say that he appears to have been lying low since mid-December.