Police seek suspect in neighborhood bank heist

First of all, I have to say that I hate to see any neighborhood business get robbed. There have been a few neighborhood robberies in the past couple of years including banks. When the bank that gets held up is where you do business, even if most of the transactions are online, it kind of touches you in a special way. I guess that is what I get from growing up in a small town.

Sure enough the Bank of America, 2625 Calder Ave., Beaumont, Texas, was robbed about 11 a.m. today. Beaumont police say the suspect came into the bank and stood at the service island as if he was pretending to look for a deposit slip. A bank worker came up to the man and asked if he needed help — something this bank does routinely — and he said, no, and handed her a note saying he was just here to rob the bank. That sounds flippant, I know, but the police are not releasing the exact wording of the note. That is approximately what police said happen except it was more matter-of-fact, Joe Friday, manner. Jess! The facts ma’am!

A Beaumont police news release said the suspect is a white man, 30-40 years old, about 6-feet, 190 pounds, light skin, short dark hair, with acne scars on his cheeks. And damn if I haven’t seen this guy somewhere before, seriously, he looks familiar but I can’t remember where I have seen him. If you notice the photo, he was wearing his sunglasses on his head and had on a blue pullover shirt with the number “54” on it. Something is written below the number on the front, but the police are not mentioning it. I wonder why? The jersey also has some kind of logo transposed on the number.

So what is the significance of the jersey first of all? Is it a football jersey? Pro or college? It’s probably pro. Now think about pro football stars — present and past — who wore a blue #54 jersey? Tedy Bruschi, retired New England Patriots linebacker and now ESPN analyst? Chuck Howley, Dallas Cowboys linebacker, Super Bowl V MVP and part of the SB VI championship team? Brian Urlacher, Chicago Bears linebacker, 8-time Pro Bowl? Just to mention a few.

Doing a little critical thinking here, if this guy is between 30 and 40 years old then Howley might have been retired when this man was born. Urlacher is still playing. Bruschi, probably more popular. But a northern team? Sure, why not? He might have been transplanted with his company to Houston and was/is a Pats fan. And what if he was laid off like so many others thanks to the Bush administration?

He doesn’t disguise himself. What does that mean? Does he want to get caught?  The news release doesn’t say if he had a gun. Did he have one? KFDM says he didn’t and that he left heading for 10th Street, that is the cross-street for the bank. What are these guys thinking, bank robbers? And he looks familiar. That’s not good. If you see him call the police or FBI. Tell ’em eightfeetdeep told you about it  and they’ll likely lock you up as well.

It is kind of interesting contemplating a bank-robber’s life. Most of us will never know who this guy is and his story. In some cases, it’s just as well.