Yes, This Is Clearly The Best Shirt To Wear When Robbing A Bank
The FBI is currently searching for this man, a bank robber with a keen eye for t-shirts. He robbed the Commerce Bank at 8050 Big Bend in Webster Groves, Missouri by handing the teller a note which read, "I have a gun. I will kill you. Give me your $100's and $50's."
The teller cooperated and the man escaped with an undisclosed sum of money, says the FBI's press release. If you know who this guy is, call St. Louis Crimestoppers at 866-371-TIPS or the FBI in St. Louis at 314-231-4324.
FBI and Webster Groves Police are Searching for Bank Robber [FBI]
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Comments:
I used to keep about $1000 in singles with me as a teller to give out in such situations
@Ghede: Yeah, I think somebody needs a refresher course. "All those people look alike anyway" = racism.
I work as a teller, and one of my biggest fears with my job is that, in a situation like this, I would burst out laughing at the idiot in front of me.
Realistically, if this happened to me, I'd probably be scared out of my mind, but every time I run through the scenario in my mind, it seems ridiculous to me.
Seriously, who robs banks in this day and age? Do you have ANY idea how many cameras there are in each branch? I'd wager at least 75 in my branch. As a rule, bank robbers typically don't get away with it any more.
True. I was just saying to myself he looks like Snoop. Or Al Roker. No wait, Snoop. No..Al Roker. It's so hard to tell because they both look so alike.@eddieck:
@eddieck: There are many shades of skin color for black men, as such there are many levels of racism.
Your level is between ignoramus and jackass.
@Princess Leela: According to Wikipedia, "racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race". Saying "all black people look alike to me" is not racism. It's just stating something. You could have difficulty identifying a black person without any hint of hatred toward them for their skin color.
Commenting on race != racism.
@shifuimam: It may not be racism, but it's still an unfair generalization of a large and varied group. No one would ever say all white people look the same would they?
@eddieck: Even with your comment now disemvoweled where it belongs, your ignorance and blatently racist atittude seep in through the consonants.
I just watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid last weekend. The dude in this story doesn't have a clue.
@audacity.ss: Right. If it's some well-planned, meticulously executed heist where they're making off with millions and then fleeing the country to spend the rest of their days on a beach in Cuba, maybe. If they're walking out with 5k TOPS and hiding out two cities over at a girlfriend's house, probably not.
@eddieck: It doesn't work that way. If I mug somebody, than say "That wasn't a robbery", I'm still getting arrested.
@dragonfire81: Actually...
According to a certain wise latina, "White man cant judge".
[She didn't say that actually, so don't quote her on that.]
Wow, there really is a Commerce Bank? I hope Mr. Drysdale isn't too upset about the robbery.
I disagree, Meg. Blue would be better to bring out his eyes.
Oddly enough, that shirt will help him. All the teller will remember is the T-shirt, as it's quite distracting, and will be less likely to recognize his face in a line up.
Of course, I doubt this was planning on his part, because if it were he would have worn a baseball cap as well -- which would have hidden his face from the frickin' cameras. Yeesh.
If he's smart, he's already burned that shirt to ash in a trash can somewhere (although I doubt he is). Wearing something loud an memorable only works as a defensive tactic if you GET RID OF IT AFTERWARDS so they can't catch you with it. :P
@dragonfire81: Actually, studies have proven that in most cases people are better at distinguishing identifying or unique characteristics within their own race than in other races. This has a lot to do with the fact that variations in appearance differ among races. Europeans have a wider variety of hair color, eye color, and nose shapes than other races and tend to use these as markers to distinguish appearance. This doesn't help much amongst Africans and Asians who tend to have similar hair and eye color and thus don't use those characteristics to distinguish differences in appearance. A lot of this probably has to do with societal surroundings, i.e. a white child adopted by a black family (I'm unsure if this "own-race bias" is formed in early life or not) in Africa would more than likely be better at distinguishing African faces than a white person who grew up in a predominantly white area.
I guess it depends on how you frame the statement. Stating it as an objective fact is racist, just because you can't tell the difference doesn't mean all black people look alike. Saying that subjectively black people are harder to identify to you personally isn't really that racist, but betrays the fact that you obviously don't know many black people.
@anonymousryan: Good points all. I think what annoyed me most about the OP's comment was that it demonstrated yet again that people for some reason think they can say the most blatantly racist things (he stated it as an objective fact), but if they throw in the disclaimer of "But I'm not a racist!" it somehow gets them off the hook.
@Trae: I was watching Forensic Files or something and the cops raided the home of a suspect and found the clothes and bloody rope the perpetrator had used on his victim. People just get so sentimental with their devices of crime, it's apparently very hard to let go..at least until the cops bust in and use their almighty tasers.
@audacity.ss: I see two types of robberies: one where the actor clearly planned the heist and has a definite exit plan and is wearing some sort of costume, and one where some dude woke up this morning and needed a fix so he shows himself and says he has a bomb or a gun or a lolcat and wants all the effin moneyz.
The smart ones, having a defined amount of time and an exit plan, know to search for trackers and dye-packs, know where the exits are, know where the alarm trips are, and know that more cash is usually kept in a safe in the vault. The idiot ones are so antsy they leave with all the electronic goodies in their bags so the money is stained and they're throwing off huge arrows pointing at them everywhere they go.
@anonymousryan: This fact has been proven many times over; hence why eye-witness testamony is so unreliable.
Again, this is why I despise the politically correct amiable idiots in this world. Yeah, the guy's being a smartass, and his comment was unnecessary, but saying that a person of a different race looks like everyone else of that race, is not per se a racist statement.
@shifuimam: It's not commenting on race that got the first poster into trouble. It was offering a racist statement--whether Wikipedia thinks it was or not--and then claiming that it wasn't racist.
Bank robberies are more common now. They just rob the tellers for a few thousand dollars. They can even hit several banks in a row. We had a problem here in NJ a few years back where they were robbing a bank a day or week. They hit every bank in the same area one after the other.
IT was very odd.
Now several of those banks have armed guards.
I did that once. A bandit sent a consumer banker through the teller line with a bag to collect the money. Apparently we didn't put enough in so he sent her back for the strapped cash. I was the vault teller that day so I had about 80k at my disposal. So what do I give him, a 10 lb brick of 1000 ones still sealed in plastic from the Fed. Looked like a lot, but I bet that pissed him off when he got home.
@Trae: Umm... Does it really matter if the teller can remember what he looks like? I mean, we're all looking at a picture from the video camera. I bet the video camera can give a more accurate description of his face than any teller. Do you think they wasted time with the sketch artist on this one?
@Princess Leela: What happens if I say something benign but then state I'm a racist? I think that's the sociology version of dividing by zero.
@ElPresidente408: But it does no good if they ask for a specific denomination. You better give them what they ask for or risk being harmed. Been there...twice...it is terrifying one you realize what the hell is happening.
robbing a bank is easier than ever.
assuming they don't get dna or fingerprints you can claim they have the wrong person and bring in a person that resembles you during trail to sit in the defendants seat and have everyone point to that person when the prosecutor asks if the person that committed the crime is present.
the prosecution will focus on the picture which will usually be poorly focused and the lens will be dirty so doubt can easily be raised. look at the picture in this story. the guy is not moving much if at all and there are lots of artifacts in the picture.
also wear a fake mole and phony bad teeth and have stinking breathe so the teller focuses on those things and not your real features.
yes, I've thought about this before.
@audacity.ss: I worked as a bank teller and I had the same fear. Then it happened.
When I was robbed the first time, I didn't believe what I was reading in the note...really pissed off the robber when I looked at him and went "Really?" Although I had gone through training on what to do, it was still just a shock it was happening and then the fear set in. Crap, crap, crap...just get the guy out of my face and please let me remember to do what I am supposed to do. Once the guy left the bank and I told my supervisor to lock the doors, that guy just robbed me, no one believed me.
The second time, a week later, was even harder because I was afraid of everyone that came in that looked remotely like my previous robber. It is hard to do your job when you are afraid of 25% of the people that come to you and then as you talk yourself into "don't worry, this person won't rob you- it was just a once in a lifetime thing" bing! I get hit again. I wanted to jump the counter and beat the crap out of the guy.
Needless to say, I was out of banking within a month after the second one.
I did go back for a while about 8 years later and during training, the security people came to me and fake robbed me. The security guy told me later that the "robber" said to him "No one has ever given me such nasty looks before." Yeah, because I am tired of being the victim and if it ever happens again...I feel sorry for that guy.
@secret_curse: Speaking from experience, a sketch artist is a waste of time. If they find the robber and they have him/her on tape, they will use that. In most cases, the teller is not involved in the judicial process at all. I was surprised when I saw the guy that robbed me had been sentenced. I didn't even know he was in court yet.
@Smashville: I hate kittens. Does that make me a racist?
I totally don't hate kittens. Especially not the orange tabby that my sister-in-law brought over the other day. The cuteness, it burns! :D
I was once playing a Sims like game on an iPhone and one of the characters said "you need 2 things to rob a bank. 1. A big van. 2. A decoy"
@Ronin-Democrat: those surveillance cameras are always crap quality and never come in handy after robberies
@ZenMasterKel: The statement being made by Eddieck was that this man dressed like a thug looks like every other black man in existence therefore inferring that every other black man in existence looks like a thug or ganster (as specified by his t-shirt). That's where the racist idea comes into play. My President is Black, my father is Black, and my brother is Black, and they all look nothing like this man.
"I have a gun. I will kill you. Give me your $100's and $50's."
Because real gangstas don't even bother with 20 dollar bills, that's small change. (Don't consider that the teller probably has way more 20s than 50s or 100s.)