Bank heist suspect gave teller his license

A bank robbery suspect gave police a huge assist when he handed a bank teller his own driver’s license during a robbery.

A warrant filed this week in Franklin County Municipal Court says 51-year-old David Menser, of the Far West Side, let the teller swipe his license into a bank machine for the promise of more cash. The information received from Menser’s license led to a warrant for his arrest. Menser

“This is rare but not unheard of,” said Columbus police detective Brad Thomas, who worked on the case. “I’ve seen it a couple of other times.”

Investigators had information connecting Menser to other bank robberies, but the swipe of his license solidified their case, Thomas said.

Menser now faces two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of threatening someone with a deadly weapon in two separate cases.

Menser walked into a Huntington Bank in the 1800 block of Hilliard Rome Road around 9:30 a.m. June 4 and handed the teller a note that said “I have a gun” and demanded money, the warrant said.

The teller gave Menser a stack of cash with a dye pack, according to the warrant. Menser took the money and threw the dye pack back at the employee, then demanded more from a cash recycler machine in the bank’s lobby.

The quick-thinking teller immediately contrived a way to obtain information about the man, Thomas said, and told him that no cash could be extracted from the machine without a driver’s license. So the robber handed the teller a license, which the teller swiped through the machine’s card reader to acquire more cash. He took the extra money and left the bank, the warrant said.

The machine recorded the information received from Menser’s license, which the bank handed over to Columbus police.

Menser was arrested June 15 without incident, Thomas said. He also is charged in a June 14 robbery of a Heartland Bank on the 2300 block of Stringtown Road in Grove City.

Investigators suspect Menser robbed at least four other banks in Columbus, Thomas said.

Menser was being held in the Franklin County jail Thursday.