Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Bandits hitting banks, blending in with masks
Bank robbers used to hide their faces behind baseball caps and sunglasses. Now they wear COVID-19 masks just like everyone else.
South Florida has seen a rise in robbers who’ve exploited the pandemic for their own gain, walking into banks with masks on and benefiting from a mask no longer raising a red flag.
“Wearing a face covering when inside a bank used to be a fairly reliable indicator that the individual was considering robbing the bank,” said FBI Special Agent James Lewis, who leads the violent crime division of the Bureau’s Miami field office.
A wave of such cases have hit South Florida banks in recent months, including five bank heists that officials say were all done by the same robber.
Consider:
On July 15, a man wearing a surgical mask, hooded sweatshirt and gloves went into a Third Federal Savings bank branch in Hallandale Beach, demanding money from the teller. (Bank customers might wear gloves to avoid COVID, but robbers may use them to avoid leaving fingerprints.)
On Oct. 8, security camera
footage at a Wells Fargo in Dania Beach recorded a woman wearing a black mask and clear gloves as she pulled out a handgun and demanded money from the bank teller.
On Oct. 23, a man wearing a neck gaiter around his face walked into a Bank of America in Pompano Beach and demanded money from a teller.
In late October, the FBI announced agents arrested a man in a string of robberies in MiamiDade County. He wore a mask, neck gaiter or bandanna during his attempts, according to security camera footage.
The FBI identified Aaron Honaker, 41, of Miami, as the man who struck multiple banks, including the Coral Gables branches of a Citibank, Wells Fargo, Chase Bank and HSBC Bank, as well as a Chase Bank branch in Aventura.
In court documents, investigators noted how the robber’s mask-wearing “in and of itself did not alarm the victims and witnesses.” What helped them catch their suspect? Footage from nearby businesses caught video of the man — with his face exposed before entering the banks.
Honaker didn’t have an expected day job for a bank robbery suspect: Investigators realized he was a lawyer. “Federal prosecutors have charged 41-year-old Miami lawyer Aaron Patrick Honaker with committing a series of bank robberies and attempted bank robberies in South Florida over the past three weeks,” federal prosecutors said in a recent news release.
Honaker’s lawyers couldn’t be reached for comment.
During his arrest, Honaker had a hammer in his waistband and had what appeared to be robbery-demand notes and “how-to” instructions for pulling off heists, prosecutors said. Inside Honaker’s backpack, officers found draft and final versions of two bank robbery notes, the prosecutors said.
With several bank robberies happening during the pandemic, the FBI has sought the public’s help by publicly circulating surveillance images of masked robbers. The heists have happened across the region, from Coral Gables to Miami to Hallandale Beach to Fort Lauderdale. Every suspect is wearing a mask, neck gaiter or bandanna.
One of the banks’ biggest assets is staying vigilant of any robbery threat.
“Banks are taking a balanced approach that preserves the security of each bank branch while protecting the health of customers and employees,” said Sarah Grano, spokeswoman for the American Bankers Association. “And they remain vigilant in preventing robberies, which are currently at their lowest level in three decades.”
Technological advancements, such as license plate readers or cellphone location data, have helped cops track down bank robbers, according to Paul Miller, a retired FBI special agent.
Miller investigated bank robbery cases and other major crimes in South Florida from 1985 to 1997. He says the use of email and social media to share photos of suspects also has helped find tipsters that may know the person police are seeking.
“A person who thinks the mask is going to camouflage them and not get them caught — it’s not a realistic point of view,” Miller said.
Lewis, the current FBI special agent in Miami, offered tips for people if they find themselves in a bank robbery: “Be a good witness. Do not intervene or put yourself at risk and remember as much detail about the robber as possible — anything that would assist agents in solving the crime.”