Two Faces of Zdzierak
How do you get away with robbing five different locations in a day before being caught? Wear a face that isn't your own!
Conrad Zdzierak, 30, was arrested after he allegedly robbed four banks and a CVS pharmacy in Ohio on April 9. How did he almost get away with his crime spree? He apparently had one heck of a disguise -- a Hollywood quality mask known as "The Player". Zdzierak, who is white, was so convincing in his mask that victims described him as a black man.
Various police departments throughout Hamilton County, Ohio, were stumped on their search for the robber. "The suspect seen in the surveillance photographs and that we were looking for, we believed to be an African American male. The suspect was actually a male, white, who was wearing an elaborate disguise," said Springdale Police Lieutenant Michael Mathis.
Zdzierak, who police believe was removing his mask after each crime, was allegedly able to drive to his targets while police searched for the black man they believed was committing the crimes. If anyone spotted him, they overlooked him since he didn't match the description of the black suspect.
It was a tip from Crimestoppers that eventually led police to Zdzierak, as they matched his car parked outside his motel room to one that had been seen driving away from one of the robberies. The interior of the Zdzierak's car was covered in red dye from an exploded dye packet that had been put into a bag of money at one of the bank locations he allegedly robbed that day.
After getting a search warrant, officers from different police departments and FBI agents converged on his hotel room. Inside the room, they found the mask, clothing that matched what was worn during the robberies, and money with serial numbers matching that which had been stolen. Zdzierak was found hiding in the bathroom.
Arrested on six counts of aggravated robbery, Zdzierak was charged with robbing the four banks and CVS pharmacy, as well as another bank in March.
"You are the type of villain we read about in novels and see in the movies," Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Melissa Powers told Zdzierak. She ordered him held on three million dollar's bail.
So "a black guy" gets blamed. What else is new?
Source: WFTS-TV
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Most Recent Comments
Posted by Mike from Dallas on May 31, 2010:
I love reading about bank robbery stories in the newspapers, like the guy who shoved a bag of money down the front of his pants as he made his escape. He tried to sue the bank (from jail, of course) for the physical injuries to his personal equipment as well as the emotional trauma, but that didn't get any mileage.
Or the guy who was mugged as he came out of the bank, so he lost the money but still got busted for it. And then there was the Incredible Idiot who actually went BACK to the very same bank on the next day to open an account with the stolen money.
You just don't get stuff like that on the Evening News.
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I assume in the first case you mention, the money had an exploding dye pack with it.... -rc
Posted by Mike from Dallas on June 3, 2010:
Ah, yes, that is correct. It was from the dye pack that went off. Because, as some may not know, those packs don't just go *poof*, or ooze dye. They go off with a bit of a bang. Something the robber didn't want to experience inside the front of his pants.
Posted by Linda, Frazier Park on August 4, 2010:
$700 for the mask but he made it back in his first robbery.
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Did you include the cost of his attorney, fines, and incarceration in your calculations? -rc