We would never encourage anyone to rob a bank. But if recent history tells us anything, it's not hard to do -- unless you're an idiot.
It seems that nearly every day we get a press release from a Valley police agency telling the story of some thief who robbed a bank and got away scot-free -- in most cases, the suspect doesn't even use a gun, just a piece of paper with something to the effect of "I want money" written on it.
Bank tellers hand over the cash, and if the thief is smart, he leaves the scene as quickly as possible and doesn't leave a proverbial trail of bread crumbs for the cops to follow.
An alleged Scottsdale bank robber could use a little work on his technique because after allegedly robbing the bank, he called a cab and waited for it in the same shopping plaza as the robbery.
According to the Scottsdale Police Department, officers responded to a robbery at a Wells Fargo branch inside the Safeway at 15696 North Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard about noon yesterday.
Witnesses say the robber -- described as a white male in his mid-20s, wearing a white dress shirt, a tie, and a Bluetooth headset -- entered the bank and demanded money from one of the tellers.
The teller handed over the cash and the suspect took off.
Cops spoke with employees at a Jiffy-Lube in the same shopping plaza as the bank who said a man fitting that description was in their store acting weird shortly after the robbery.
The man, the employees told police, called the cab, waited for it, and left.
Police called the cab company, which told them the man had been dropped off at McCormick and Schmick's restaurant near Scottsdale and Doubletree Ranch Roads.
Police searched the cab and found a Bluetooth headset -- similar to the one worn by the man who robbed the bank -- that was apparently left in the back of the cab.
Officers went to McCormick and Schmick's, where they found a man who matched the description of the suspect walking out of the restaurant.
The man, Robert Solfisburg, of Tucson, was wearing a white dress shirt, a tie, and just so happened to have in his possession money from the robbery.
Solfisburg was arrested and held on one count of robbery.
