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By Lookout Staff

August 27 -- A masked man suspected of breaking into the homes of elderly women and making off with silverware and other possessions pleaded not guilty to three robberies Thursday.

Jeffrey Langford, 53 -- whom police dubbed the “silverware bandit” because he asked victims for their china -- has a criminal record and, if convicted, faces a possible life sentence as a third-strike felon, authorities said.

Langford – who struck twice in Santa Monica – is a suspect in at least a dozen other Westside burglaries.

The Los Angeles resident is currently being held on $1,475,000 bail, according to Santa Monica police, who worked with the Los Angeles Police Department to break the case.

Langford faces three felony counts each of residential burglary and residential robbery, and one felony count each of assault, false imprisonment by violence and receiving stolen property, police said. He also was charged with one misdemeanor count of cutting a phone line.

Langford was convicted in 1982 of burglary and assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Los Angeles District Attorneys office. If convicted for the recent robberies, he would face 25 years to life in prison.

Langford – who apparently staked out the homes of his victims before returning to rob them – was being tailed by Los Angeles police when he was arrested in Los Angeles Friday, according to reports.

The suspect allegedly targeted women between the ages of 70 and 97, entering the homes in the pre-dawn hours wearing dark clothing with a dark mask covering his face.

The suspect, who struck unarmed, would usually enter single-story homes through unlocked windows or jimmied the locks on windows and doors.

Langford is believed to be responsible for two robberies in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Santa Monica – on the 2300 block of 22nd Street on July 18 and on the 1200 block of Ashland Avenue on August 8.

Langford is due back in court September 22.

Anyone with additional information should call the Santa Monica Police Department Detectives at 310.458.8451 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or the Watch Commander at 310.458.8427 (24 hours).

Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call the WeTip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463).