Security Spotlight: Heat-packing bandits, hot CrimeDex alerts, and more!

Big Reward and Lil Bow Wow

A Lucrative Reward - Nobody knows his name, but many have seen the face of a prolific bank robber who has a sizeable bounty on his head. Dubbed the "Vaulter Bandit" for leaping over bank counters during heists that date back to February of 2010, the notorious serial bandit is suspected of robbing 17 banks in the past four years in Mississauga, Hamilton, Ottawa and York Regions of Canada, and four banks in Calgary in 2011 over a 10-day time period.

In 2011, the authorities offered a $10,000 reward for the suspect's capture, which was later raised to $20,000. The Canadian Banker's Association recently upped the ante to $50,000. The Vaulter Bandit has been captured multiple times on bank surveillance videos and has made no attempt to disguise his identity in any of his robberies. For three years, he appeared to drop out of sight. But on May 5th, he resurfaced at a TD Bank branch in Toronto. His modus operandi for this job was different. As the bank employees opened up the doors that morning, the suspect drew an automatic-style handgun, ordered the employees into the vault, and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The Vaulter Bandit is believed to be a white male, 40-50 years of age, between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10, with a fit, medium build. Anyone with information who would like to cash in on that $50k reward can call the Toronto police or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). William Crate of the Canadian Banker's Association released a warning for the elusive thief: "We will not give up until you're caught. We will not quit."

Bow Wow Behind Bars -

The Lil' Bow Wow is behind bars. Not the former child rapper Lil' Bow Wow, known more recently as just "Bow Wow," but one of his loyal fans who took up bank robbery instead of rap music as a career choice. Nineteen-year-old Ashley Carrington allegedly robbed three banks in Palm Beach County, FL in May. A clear image of Ms. Carrington was captured by security cameras in each of the heists, during which she passed notes threatening to blow up the bank or kill all the customers if the tellers didn't cooperate. The surveillance video from a May 27th heist at a PNC Branch in Lake Park shows Ms. Carrington wearing a Lil' Bow Wow T-shirt. She was arrested after an anonymous tipster revealed her identity to the authorities. Ms. Carrington is facing a federal charge of bank robbery with a possible maximum sentence of 20 years. Coincidentally, the real Bow Wow, now a thriving actor, just announced that he is changing his name back to his given name, Shad Moss. Wise choice.

Check our Bank Robbery page for photos and information on the latest robbery suspects. There are 30 unknown bank bandits featured in our suspects gallery for June.

Most of these bandits concealed their identities with hoods, sunglasses or other coverings. Enforcing a no hats, hoods and sunglasses policy can help reduce the number of bandits who target your bank. Purchase No Hat Cling signs for all of your branches from the Banker Store.

Scooters, Supermarkets and Stiff Sentences

A scooter? Really?...

A U.S. Bank branch located inside a grocery store in Thousand Oaks, CA was robbed on the last Tuesday in June. Many bankers may be under the misconception that because of the extra risk exiting the building, supermarket branches would be a less likely target for thieves. But that's not necessarily the case. In this incident, Jasen Eckhart, 20, showed a gun and fled with the cash. When he exited the building, he hopped on the back of a scooter driven by 19-year-old Dylan Bogart and effectively escaped. Unfortunately for them, it only took about a day for police to identify and arrest Eckhart and his accomplice.

An inside job...

In Florissant, MO another grocery store branch was robbed. In this case the male suspect approached the bank teller, Brianna Kirk-Simpson, and demanded money. He left with cash and the teller was interviewed during the investigation, at which time Kirk-Simpson confessed that she and her husband Joshua Kirk (the robber) had planned the heist together. The couple is now in custody facing robbery charges.

Motivating factors...

Kirk-Simpson certainly isn't the only woman involved in a bank robbery. There is a growing trend of female bank robbers. One of whom is Lindsay Brading in Clark County, IN. Brading held up a Your Community Bank branch but was arrested within 45 minutes after the heist when she was discovered hiding in a nearby restroom. The gun she was carrying and the bank's money were recovered. A family friend that was interviewed by reporters said Brading had a known heroin problem and cited a lack of government programs to assist her as the root of her problems. In addition to this robbery, Brading is also being charged with a robbery at a Your Community Bank branch in June 2013. If found guilty, she'll have plenty of time to get the help she needs.

Patience might have paid off...

Grocery store branch robberies are not all that uncommon. There was an attempted robbery at a U.S. Bank branch inside an Albertson's grocery store in Orange County, CA recently. The teller had just gotten to work and had not yet opened her cash drawer. The would-be thief grew impatient with the delay and left without any cash. No one was injured in the incident and police are looking for the suspect.

A real sentence...

Many of us in the banking industry are tired of reading about so many short jail sentences being handed down for bank robbery. Apparently we aren't the only ones. Near Portland, ME, Judge Nancy Torresen sentenced Michael D'Angelo to 15 years in prison for robbing the Kennebunk Savings Bank in Berwick in late 2012. Dressed as a woman, D'Angelo used band aids, surgical tape and scarves to conceal his identifying tattoos. D'Angelo was classified as a career criminal.

Another case involving a heavy sentence for robbery was handed down to Phillip Gage who pleaded guilty in March to armed bank robbery and other charges. According to U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II, in addition to paying $20,054 in restitution, Phillip Gage was sentenced to 22 years in prison plus five years of supervised release for armed bank robbery, being a felon in possession of a firearm and using a firearm during a bank robbery.

Hot Topics from the Bankers' Threads

In the publicly accessible threads, one banker is seeking out networking and training opportunities to maximize their budget, while another is looking for help on the requirements for fire resistance specs of the banks vault. Dana Turner is inviting security officers to join him at the 20th Anniversary Security Officer's Workshop coming up in October. You can get the details or ask questions about this year's event here. This is an excellent way to network with peers and get your action plan in place before there is an urgent need for it.

Check out other interesting discussions taking place in the Public Security area. When commenting on these discussions, keep in mind this is an unprotected public forum and comments should be limited to generic content.

We also have a "private" security forum for discussion of more private, sensitive topics. That is where security officers were discussing reopening branches after a robbery, InfoSec and CATO, Equifax on-site inspections, LEOs getting surveillance tapes, drive-thru pods, and more!

To comment in Bankers' Threads you must be a registered user. You can register here. If using your bank email account, you will be given access to the private forums. The Private area is a group of forums under the heading "Private - Financial Institution Personnel Only." The Private forums do not include access to Bankers Hotline or Compliance Action, premium content areas that require paid subscriptions to those respective publications.

If you are already registered for the Threads, but don't yet have access to the private forums, using your bank email address send a request for access to andyz@bankersonline.com. Please verify that you do not yet have Private access. Once your registration request is approved, you can access the Private Security forum here.

CRIMEDEX

In June crime was bustin' out all over

Spring may have given way to summer last month, but frauds, robberies, scams, counterfeits and other assorted demonstrations of criminal behavior continued to provide the grist for BOL CrimeDex reports. As the month began, an alert went out from Columbia, SC about an armed robbery in a bank parking lot as two employees of a local jewelry store were attempting to make a deposit for the business. The San Diego, CA District Attorney's office posted a request for information about three suspects identified in connection with distribution of counterfeit $100 bills. Counterfeits of another kind — bogus MasterCard credit cards — were reported to be involved in the purchase of high-value gift cards in the Beaverton, OR area. And counterfeit Kroger Company checks were reported by that company to be in circulation in connection with a fraudulent "Publishers Clearing House" scam. Kroger reported that over 1,200 of the bogus checks totaling over $3.2 million had been presented for deposit across the country. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service notified CrimeDex subscribers of an investigation into multiple credit card account applications using 35 different names and a single Slippery Rock, PA address. The Service also distributed an alert on an individual involved in a scheme to defraud banks and businesses using stolen and counterfeit checks, stolen identities, and phony businesses. A Connecticut savings and loan association reported that counterfeits of its official checks have been received by individuals across the country in connection with a scam operating under the guise of a research company.

Are you a BOL CrimeDex subscriber? You could be receiving regional or nationwide alerts about crimes that can warn you of crooks operating in your area or scams that could affect your institution and its customers.

CrimeDex is now FREE to registered members of the Bankers' Threads Private Security Forum! Get the details and subscribe now!

Facebook Blog

Throughout the month, we share news related incidents on our Facebook page that can be informative examples for training employees on security issues and more.

Our June 5th post is on a different type of bank robbery - hackers stealing bank information. In this case, they stole more than $100 million but the FBI's efforts working in partnership with other countries disrupted the thieves.

Read our June 18th post about an observant staff member who noticed a "man" with a Fu Manchu as the suspect who robbed the bank actually walked like a woman. It was a drive-thru customer who spotted the disguised bandit carrying a weapon.

On June 25th, Dana Turner alerted us to a story about a man dressed as a security guard when he robbed a bank. You can never let your guard down and should always pay careful attention to all customers. Also on the 25th, we shared a story that is almost comical because of the way the robber went about his theft. But it wasn't funny when shots were fired.

Keep up with these and other informative topics on our BOL Facebook page. Be sure to "like" the articles so we can continue to post more articles of interest to you!