Robber Recruits Henchmen on Craiglist

The award for crook of the year goes to the as-of-yet-uncaptured robber who not only "wrested a bag of cash from an armored truck guard and escaped down a creek with an inner tube." He used "decoys summoned from a
Craigslist ad to distract witnesses," too, ABC News reports. Oh, and pepper spray.

The robbery happened went down in tiny Monroe, Washington. The thief wore a ventilator mask, and sprayed the armored truck guard, outside a Bank of America branch. Then he dashed for a creek running into the Skyomish River. He got in an yellow inner tube, and took off.

Meanwhile, "at least a dozen unsuspecting decoys" were standing around to confuse any potential pursuers. They were all recruited on Craigslist.

"I came across the ad that was for a prevailing wage job for $28.50 an hour," KING-TV quotes a "Mike, who saw a Craigslist ad last week looking for workers for a road maintenance project in Monroe."

He said he inquired and was e-mailed back with instructions to meet near the Bank of America in Monroe at 11 a.m. Tuesday. He also was told to wear certain work clothing.

"Yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask… and, if possible, a blue shirt," he said.

Mike showed up along with about a dozen other men dressed like him, but there was no contractor and no road work to be done. He thought they had been stood up until he heard about the bank robbery and the suspect who wore the same attire.

FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs tells the Seattle Times that she'd never heard of anyone using an inner tube as a getaway vehicle.

"I do remember one time we had a bank robbery in Olympia, and the guy got into scuba gear and dove into the water," Burroughs said. "I
thought that was the most bizarre thing I'd ever heard until today."

The scuba guy, Charles Everett Coma, of Olympia, was sentenced last year to 16 years in prison.

[Photo: ABC; good catch: Schneier]