An alleged serial bank robber, known for his distinctive waddle, struck 10 Honolulu banks after violating supervised release Dec. 2, prosecutors say.

Wallace J. Silva was caught when he fled in a taxi after the 10th robbery at the Chinatown branch of Bank of Hawaii on Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Silva confessed to all 10 bank robberies during questioning by an FBI agent Tuesday at the Queen’s Medical Center, where he was being treated after complaining of heart problems, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court.

Silva told the FBI agent that “he was never armed with a weapon” during any of the robberies, according to an FBI affidavit in support of the complaint.

Silva’s demand note, presented to a teller Dec. 2 at the First Hawaiian Bank’s Kapiolani branch, said he had a weapon. He verbally threatened the teller, saying, “You don’t want me to take it out,” and she feared for the safety of customers in line, the complaint said.

Silva was unaccounted for Dec. 2 during a head count at the federal Mahoney Hale Residential Reentry Center.

His probation officer identified him from surveillance images of the Dec. 2 bank robbery. She also noticed several bank robberies in the area of the center, and the manner of the robberies matched his past crimes. Silva has more than two dozen convictions, dating back to the mid-1970s, including for robbery, burglary, sex abuse and assaulting a police officer.

In CrimeStoppers bulletins seeking the public’s help this month, police noted that witnesses said the bank robber walked with “a distinct waddle.”

After a Bank of Hawaii Chinatown branch employee reported seeing the robber getting into a taxi after Tuesday’s robbery, police caught Silva minutes later on Ala Moana Boulevard.