Bank Robber uses Craigslist to hire unknowing dummy accomplices

[Ichingcarpenter]

In an elaborate robbery scheme that's one part The Thomas Crowne Affair and one part Pineapple Express, a crook robbed an armored truck outside a Bank of America branch in Monroe, Wash., by hiring decoys through Craigslist to deter authorities.

It gets better: He then escaped in a creek headed for the Skykomish River in an inner tube, and the cops are still looking for him. "A great amount of money" was taken, Monroe police said, but did not provide a dollar value.

It appears to have unfolded this way, according to a Seattle-based NBC affiliate: around 11:00 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, the robber, wearing a yellow vest, safety goggles, a blue shirt, and a respirator mask went over to a guard who was overseeing the unloading of cash to the bank from the truck. He sprayed the guard with pepper spray, grabbed his bag of money, and fled the scene.

But here's the hilarious twist. The robber had previously put out a Craigslist ad for road maintenance workers, promising wages of $28.50 per hour. Recruits were asked to wait near the Bank of America right around the time of the robbery--wearing yellow vests, safety goggles, a respirator mask, and preferably a blue shirt. At least a dozen of them showed up after responding to the Craigslist ad.
"I came across the ad that was for a prevailing wage job for $28.50 an hour," one of the unwitting decoys, named Mike, said to the NBC station. As it turns out, they were simply placed there to confuse cops who were looking for a guy wearing a virtually identical outfit.

Authorities eventually found the getaway inner tube (a getaway inner tube!) and suspect that accomplices may have picked up the robber in a boat. >>>>snip

http://news.cnet.com/bank-robber-hires-decoys-on-craigslist-fools-cops/

On an update ...... this guy has not been caught yet.

[Renew Deal]

1. lol

Glad no one got hurt. :rofl:

[TomInTib]

2. I hope he gets away with it.

That is hilarious.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. He worked 100 times as harder than AIG to steal his $

Pretty damn clever.

[LisaL]

7. Yea, incredibly funny.

You know what would have been even funnier? If police shot one or two of the people recruited on craiglist after mistaking them for a bank robber.
:sarcasm:

[robinlynne]

3. That is one smart crook!

[Uben]

4. That's one way to get floated a loan! nt

nt

[Uben]

5. That's one way to get floated a loan! nt

nt

[40ozDonkey]

8. This story, as told through sketch comedy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcQ3-uTDx1c&NR=1

[DavidDvorkin]

9. So you CAN get rich via Craigslist!

I keep getting e-mails telling me that, and I keep deleting them. The joke's on me!

[onethatcares]

10. there goes the rate on boa credit cards

better cut em up now.

Oh, and to the robber:toast: Glad no one got hurt.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

11. I can't believe people are praising a robber here.

Not cool. :thumbsdown:

Why don't you hit yourselves in the face with a blast of pepper spray and see how funny you think it is?

[LisaL]

12. Exactly.

In addition to pepper spray, this robber also allegedly involved a whole bunch of innocent people (obviously needing a job) who could have been arrested or worse if police mistaken them for a robber. Those people probably had to spend their own money on yellow vests, goggles, respirators, but hey, it's all fun and games, right?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

15. People could have died and it's frankly a miracle no one did. nt

[originalpckelly]

13. It's like DB Cooper for CL.

I'm not praising, but it is damn interesting. Obviously, this was a very intelligent person, it's sad they use that for illegal purposes.

[InternalDialogue]

22. D.B. Tuber

[nichomachus]

14. And not only that -- he littered -- we should be outraged

[Voice for Peace]

21. lol

:rofl:

[Ichingcarpenter]

17. Meanwhile Wall Street and Banks can rape the American people

of $2 trillion dollars and have DUers lose their homes.

[Fumesucker]

24. Wall Street and the Banks got a bailout and plenty of DUers supported it..

I'll bet some of them will come on here to tell us how bad this guy was.

:crazy:

[alittlelark]

18. Ya gotta admit it's original and funny.

I'm still laughing.....

[nichomachus]

27. You're right -- and some people really need to get their sense of humor checked

I think they're down a quart.

[malaise]

16. An intelligent bank robber

You almost want to root for this guy.

[proud patriot]

19. LOL..

ingenious LOL

[sarcasmo]

20. Sounds like a great plot for a movie, and he got away in an inner tube, classic comedy.

[LisaL]

23. By the way, this is old info, and police already caught

the suspect. I guess lots of you are gonna cry now.
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_112608WAB_craigslist_robber_charged_TP.4a8b057.html

[Ichingcarpenter]

26. You believe the FBI broke the case by this?

'The FBI says it cracked the case when agents learned that about two weeks before the robbery, a homeless man called 911 to report that he found a can of Mace, a wig and a two-way radio behind a trash bin nearby. When a man came to retrieve the items, the homeless man wrote down the license plate number of his car.'




It had to be cracked by the Craigs list trace.
When I dropped this story out I thought that the
Craig's List thing was the weakness in his crime.

Wall street and the banks are the best criminals
but they won't get the time for ten times the crime.

[Fumesucker]

25. Yep, I was thinking Thomas Crown Affair before I even clicked on the title.

We had watched the movie a few months ago and it hit me immediately.