'Robber' reports bank heist

From The Herald News -

Police say John A. Pighee Jr., 58, was unhappy with the service he received at a Bank of America branch. So he picked up his cell phone, called police and reported a robbery at the bank while he was there.

"As odd as it sounds, we took a bank robbery (call) from the bank robber," Lt. Ken Teppel said. Teppel said the man had attempted withdrawing some money that the bank had a hold on. When the bank wouldn't release the funds, "he stated he was going to shut the bank down."

After talking by phone with the branch's employees from the parking lot, police determined the bank was not, in fact, being robbed. They promptly entered the building and arrested Pighee.

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Ex-Marine Tackles, Lectures Bank Robber

Jul 11, 5:01 PM (ET) DECATUR, Ga. (AP) - Timothy Armstead was at a Washington Mutual Bank to find out how someone had stolen $100 from his account when a man wielding a fire extinguisher came in and demanded $2,000. As employees went to the bank vault to comply, the unidentified man began loudly counting down the minutes, attracting the attention of Armstead.

When the robber tried walking out, Armstead knocked the man to the ground. The man yielded without a fight. And while they waited for the police, Armstead said he lectured the man.

Details at Excite News.

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Man Robs NH Bank Disguised As Tree

Jul 7, 2007 3:43 pm EST -

MANCHESTER, NH Police are looking for a man who attempted to disguise himself as a tree and rob a local bank. The suspect used duct tape to attach tree branches onto his body as a form of camouflage (See photo above.) He then walked into the Citizens Bank on Elm Street and demanded money. He was able to escape with an undisclosed amount of cash.

More at DailyHaHa.

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Dumb or just plain stupid?

Kind of old but still hilarious -

October 22, 2005 - 8:00AM

Anthony Prince (top photo) and Luke Carroll show off their ill-gotten gains.

US prosecutors have released photos of two Australian bank robbers dubbed Dumb and Dumber, who are seen posing for the camera while holding stacks of bills.

Anthony Prince, 20, and Luke Carroll, 19, were sentenced to prison last month after pleading guilty to robbing a bank. The men, who were working at a Vail ski shop, were given the nickname by the Australian media because of a string of clues they left behind that led to their capture the next day.

In the photos, Prince grins into the camera with $US20 ($A26) bills fanned out in each hand. Carroll has his lips pursed while clutching a stack of bills and holding more in his other hand, spread out in a fan.

Witnesses said the masked robbers had distinct accents and wore badges similar to ones issued by Prince and Carroll's employer. The robbers also used their ski passes to board a chairlift near the bank within minutes of the robbery.

Investigators distributed flyers with Carroll and Prince's photos from a previous arrest on vandalism charges. An officer at the Denver airport arrested them the next day after recognizing them from the flyer and their distinctive accents. Authorities said they had tried to buy one-way tickets to Mexico.

Prince was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison and Carroll to five years - a longer term because authorities said he threw a bank teller to the ground. More at the Sydney Morning Herald.

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