ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512140075
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ST. LOUIS
SOURCE: ED SCHAFER ASSOCIATED PRESS
A SMART-ALECKY DUO has robbed almost as many banks as Jesse James' gang. The G-men can't wait to meet them. - They wear FBI logos while holding up banks, use agents' names when buying getaway cars, and write letters to newspapers making fun of the bureau.
The two bandits who have hit at least 18 Midwestern banks are playing head games with the FBI.
``They think it's amusing. We do not,'' said Robert Hawk, FBI spokesman in Cleveland. ``We consider this to be a very serious matter. Bank robbery is not funny.''
The ``Mid-Western Bank Bandits,'' as they call themselves, are believed to have committed smartly executed bank robberies over the past couple of years in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Ohio and Kentucky.
They are approaching the record of Jesse James, who led about 25 robberies of banks, stagecoaches and trains in and around Missouri.
Authorities won't disclose how much money the robbers have gotten, although the Cleveland Plain Dealer gave the amount as $226,000.
No one has been hurt, but the bandits have left hints that they're capable of serious harm.
Several newspapers in the Midwest have received at least five taunting letters that appear to have been written by the pair.
Letters to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Des Moines Register, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Plain Dealer came in the form of an ``Official Nomination Form'' nominating FBI agent James Nelson of St. Louis as a hero for ``Honesty and Demonstrating Patriotism.''
The robbers used the letters to appoint Nelson ``as our new spokesman for 1996. We're sure Jim will do a better job than Larry has done in the past.''
``Larry'' is apparently Larry Holmquist, the FBI's spokesman in Omaha, Neb., site of a robbery in August 1994.
Nelson said he might have been picked because he was quoted as speculating the holdups might be the work of extremists with a grudge against the government.
The letters to the newspapers were mailed from Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 27 and from St. Louis on Dec. 6 to newspaper reporters and artists. The letters often carried the names of other reporters or artists on the return address.
The robbers have a distinctive m.o.:
nThey spend no more than five minutes in the bank.
nThey prohibit tellers from touching the cash so they can't rig a money bag with a dye bomb. Instead, they lean over the counter to grab the cash themselves.
nThey buy older used cars before each robbery, and they have signed FBI office chiefs' names on the titles.
nThey have worn clothing bearing the logos of the FBI and the ATF, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The robbers also have slowed their pursuers by leaving behind such items as a package they say contains explosives, a grenade pin, or a taut string tied to the glove compartment door of an abandoned getaway car to give the appearance of a booby trap.
Authorities said the robbers have included small amounts of explosives but made no effort to detonate them, possibly to show they could do damage if they wanted to.
FBI agents refused to say whether the letters have yielded any clues about the holdup men.
Lisa Frasier, a graphic artist with the Register, has received two letters. The return address gave the name of Joe Holleman, a Post-Dispatch police reporter who has written several stories about the robberies.
``We did a big story on a robbery here last year, and I did a map of the Midwest showing areas where banks were hit at about the same time,'' Frasier said. ``It had my credit on the map. That's the only thing reason I can think of for them sending things to me.''
The FBI's Nelson, like others at the bureau, isn't laughing. But he doesn't want to discourage the robbers in their letter-writing, either.
``I welcome any correspondence from the bank robbers and look forward to meeting them sometime. Soon,'' he said.
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