Bank Re-Entry Not a Good Idea

Knute Falk, 54, from Beaverton, Oregon, was out of cash, and decided to rob a bank. He made a few mistakes.

His equipment was OK - he had a knit cap, a bandanna face cover, a loaded gun and a bag to put the cash in. And he had a plan. Get the money; steal a car; ditch the car; get in his own car; drive away.

He parked his old Toyota Camry a few blocks away from the bank in a mall parking lot early one Thursday afternoon in May, and walked to the bank. Once there, he herded the twelve people in the branch to one end of the lobby, and ordered two tellers to empty their drawers into the bag, and then sent them into the vault for more cash.

While this was going on, he demanded car keys from one of the customers, who gave him his whole set of keys, and told him the silver Infiniti Q45 was his. Knute took his bag of cash, with close to $200,000 in it, and left the bank. While employees were calling the police, he was observed standing outside in the parking lot, trying to open the car door. Evidently he couldn't figure how to do it. So he took off his mask, and walked back into the bank to ask the customer which key he needed to use!

He finally left in the silver car, with police close behind, following the tracking device in the bag of cash. He parked in the mall parking lot next to his own car, took the time to put the keys under the driver's seat as he had promised the hapless customer, and was arrested when he left the Infiniti and got into his Toyota.

He told police it was his ".first try at robbing a bank."

Copyright © 2004 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 14, No. 4, 7/05