Sporting a fake rubber nose and sunglasses, a nattily dressed gunman robbed a Minneapolis bank in what authorities say is at least his fifth bank holdup in recent months inside Twin Cities grocery stores.
The most recent heist occurred Friday, shortly after noon at the Guaranty Bank inside the Rainbow Foods store at 1540 New Brighton Blvd. in northeast Minneapolis. He pointed a semiautomatic handgun at the teller, fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash and remains at large, authorities said.
"He appears to have a disguise on his face, one of those rubber noses that you buy for Halloween," Minneapolis Police Lt. Mike Fossum said Monday.
The suspect also used a bogus beak and shades in two other robberies among the five, in Maple Grove and Plymouth, the FBI said Monday.
On July 20, also around lunchtime on a Friday, the same man robbed the TCF Bank in the Cub Foods at 256 57th Av. NE. in Fridley, Fossum said.
In the Minneapolis and Fridley holdups, he's "well-dressed [in] the exact same clothing," said Fossum, who added that the FBI also suspects him in bank robberies since late March in Plymouth, Maple Grove and St. Louis Park grocery stores.
The Minneapolis tellers "had seen the memo from corporate security" about the suspect, "and they were talking about what they would do, and lo and behold, here he comes in," Fossum said.
The suspect's clothing selection has varied from bank to bank but has been consistently dapper, said FBI spokesman Gregory Boosalis. The suspect's wardrobe choices have included a fedora, dress shirts, cuff links, dress slacks, a suit or sport coat, and a long-sleeve V-neck sweater.
