By Ann Fisher
Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A few weeks ago, FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas circulated this e-mail: The Grove City Police Department and the FBI are looking for Karl E. Smith, white male, age 52, 6'0", 170 pounds, for the robbery of the Fifth Third Bank, 4128 Hoover Road, Grove City, Ohio, on November 13, 2008.
Now, here’s the kicker: Smith, dubbed the “Summer Tooth Bandit” because he has several teeth missing (summer there, summer missin’), has a warrant on file for the robbery .
“You’ve heard that one before, haven’t you?” Trombitas said of the old joke during a recent interview.
Certain topics -- descriptions, locales and modus operandi -- inspire the nicknames, he said, but in the end, a nickname, however amusing, is meant to distinguish one robber from another in the minds of law officers and news reporters.
That’s especially helpful when the capers occur fast and furiously, as happened this week when seven central Ohio banks were robbed in four days.
After a while, the descriptions of the robbers blend together. Let’s face it: How many white, 6-foot, 170-pound men are out there?
But what if the bandit also has especially bad breath? Or a cold sore? Perhaps he favors plaid shirts or resembles the Flip Wilson character Geraldine or always strikes in the morning -- the Morning Glory Robbers -- as bank employees arrive at work.
When possible, Trombitas turns the bad guys and gals into three-dimensional characters with the nicknames he includes in his news releases. The nicknames don’t make it into the newspaper, but they tell a story. “I never make anything up. It’s got to be legitimate,” Trombitas said.
Inspiration often hits at the end of interviews, when he asks witnesses whether they had noticed anything else they hadn’t mentioned.
One responded that the robber “had the worst breath that I ever smelled. I don’t know if she smoked a carton of cigarettes or ate an onion or both.”
And the Bad Breath Bandit was born.
Another time, a witness told Trombitas, “The robber just looked like an ‘average Joe.’ ”
And the Average Joe Robber took root. This year has been no worse than last for bank robberies -- 67 at this point, compared with 72 in central Ohio in all of 2007 -- but after a while, the cases begin to sound alike, Trombitas said.
Agents routinely refer to nicknames while discussing cases in the office. So there’s the Church Lady Bandit, the Granny Bank Robber, the Big Boy Bandit and the Barbie Bandits. And yesterday, the Two-Hat Robber, who wore a hoodie over a ball cap.
Trombitas said he feels comfortable sharing the made-up monikers with reporters because “they know that you’re not trying to be mean or mean-spirited and that you’re not trying to take this lightly.”
He hopes that everyone understands. “These are real people getting robbed,” he said. “Even if there’s not a gun shoved up in their face, they think they’re going to die.”
Copyright 2008 Columbus Dispatch