FBI’S nicknames help nab bank robbers but also draw criticism

Catching a bank robber clad in disguises or concealing clothing can be difficult for authorities, so to help identify these suspects, the FBI in a Texas field office uses a more tongue-in-cheek tactic that involves nicknames.

The “Mummy Marauder,” “Sticky Note Bandit” and “Highheeled Hijacker” are some of the many nicknames the Houston field office created to help its investigators catch suspected bank robbers. Creating nicknames is a strategy the field office employed before public affairs officer Christina Garza arrived more than eight years ago, but since then, the agency has “gotten more clever,” she told Hearst Newspapers.

“We try to be as creative as possible,” Garza said. “We do it because it gets attention … the main goal is to get these individuals behind bars.”

But not everyone is a fan of that creativity. Defense attorneys like Guy Womack believe the tactic is “childish” and “unprofessional.”

“When (the FBI) use funny little nicknames or whatever, that’s not advancing anything,” said Womack, who specializes in criminal defense, federal defense and military defense cases.

But law enforcement officials find the nicknames helpful in public engagement, leading to more tips.

‘Fine line’ with tactic

Garza, along with fellow public affairs officer, Connor Hagan, make up the nicknames after speaking with eyewitnesses of the bank robberies and watching security footage.

The field office does not employ the tactic for every bank robber, but only the ones who strike multiple times, Hagan said. When coming up with the nicknames, Garza and Hagan specifically look at how the suspect decided to rob the bank and what attire they chose to wear, according to Garza.

“Sometimes I think they want to get caught based on the outfits they decide to wear,” she said. “How do they stand out in a crowd? It’s because of some of the ridiculous costumes.”

Garza said the field office does acknowledge that there’s a “fine line” it has to walk because they don’t want to disrespect anyone. She recalled a bank robber who appeared to be wearing a hijab and the agency shied away from giving that suspect a nickname due to how disrespectful it would be. Bank robberies that result in death or physical injuries also are something the field office considers heavily when deciding to use the tactic, she said.

“There’s a lot that goes into if we’re going name them, how we’re going to name them and what we’re going to name them given all the considerations that we have to take when doing so,” Garza said.

Renaming bank robbers also occurs due to suspects maybe changing an article of clothing, according to Hagan. Although the bank robbers change their appearance, investigators typically can spot it’s the same suspect due to their M.O., he said.

Could diminish fair trial

Womack said the tactic could affect defendants during trial if witnesses or agents refer to them by their nicknames in front of a jury.

“That’d be objectionable,” he said. “The judge would tell the jury to disregard that, (and) we’d object, but it’d be unprofessional for the government to do that.”

Someone referring to the defendant by the nickname, or assuming they are the “Dapper Desperado,” for example, without proof, is “prejudging them,” he said. The nicknames also could taint the jury pool because potential jurors may connect the highly publicized names to the defendant prematurely, he added.

Effectiveness of tactic

The nicknames become so publicized through social media and other media outlets that even the robbers themselves become familiar with them. An example is the “Rainy Day Robber,” who in 2019 held up multiple banks in Houston during major storms.

Houston police Sgt. Jessica Bruzas said a suspect confessed to being the “Rainy Day Robber” to her during an interrogation because he saw the nickname on the news and wanted to express his displeasure about it.

“If he wouldn’t have told me that, I would have never even linked this man back to these three old cases,” Bruzas said.

Bruzas called the nicknames “an awesome tactic” because it leads to more tips.

“It definitely drives in people to read the story and then call in if they think that the person looks familiar,” Bruzas said.

Houston police officer David Helms said that between 2016 and 2018, authorities really “needed those catchy names” to generate media coverage because the city saw over 100 bank robberies during that period.