Tech & Biz

Robber Hires Henchmen on Craiglist

by Jordan Yerman | October 3, 2008 at 05:05 am

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A armored-truck robber took a page from Thomas Crown and gave it a Web 2.0 twist: he used Craigslist to hire his accomplices, who unwittingly acted as decoys for his getaway, for which he threw in a bit of Prison Break.

The robbery happened went down in tiny Monroe, Washington. The thief wore a ventilator mask, and sprayed the armored truck guard, outside a Bank of America branch. Then he dashed for a creek running into the Skyomish River. He got in an yellow inner tube, and took off.

Meanwhile, "at least a dozen unsuspecting decoys" were standing around to confuse any potential pursuers. They were all recruited on Craigslist.

To clarify, the decoys were decoys because they were dressed like the perp: blue workshirt and surgical mask.

The Craigslist element of the plan is quite ingenious, since you get accomplices who not only don't know your plan (and therefore can't shop you to the police), but also don't even know that they're your accomplices. Indeed, I'm not sure they can even be charged with anything, as all they did was answer an ad and dress in a particular manner.

"The Craigslist thing is very weird," she said. "Hopefully, that will give us some clue as to where they are."

Willis said an ad was posted on the free classified advertising site, asking for 15 to 20 men to show up near the Bank of America on Old Owen Road at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday to work on a maintenance project called "Restore Monroe."

The men were to wear dark blue shirts and surgical masks covering their noses and mouths. In return, they'd be paid about $28 per hour, which Willis said is well above the standard for that kind of work.

Jon Azpiri got this story the other day, before the Craigslist element had come to light; this version will be in the Tech & Biz channel because of that angle, since Jon has the Strange angle pretty much covered.