Conrad Zdzierak Foils Ohio Police in String of Bank Robberies by Using Blackface

White bank robber, Conrad Zdzierak, foils Ohio cops in string of bank robberies by wearing blackface.

Blackface bank robber Conrad Zdzierak (Newser)

From Newser:

Ohio police say they've apprehended a wily white bank robber who threw them off the trail by disguising himself as a black person. Authorities say 30-year-old Conrad Zdzierak would rob the banks in a high-quality mask, then take it off as he drove to his next robbery target, confounding police on the lookout for a black man.

He allegedly managed to hit four banks and a CVS within just three hours, ABC reports. His mistake? He never disguised his car. Police got a report of a vehicle outside a hotel matching the getaway car's description. They found it with an interior stained red by the dye bank tellers had slipped into the money bags.

Inside the hotel, they found Zdzierak, the money, and “what I'm calling a 'Hollywood quality' mask,” said a police lieutenant. “These things cost $600-$700.” Zdzierak is now in custody on $3 million bail. “You are the type of villain we read about in novels,” the judge told him.

This is crazy but not surprising. Considering Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder in 2008, and C. Thomas Howell in Soul Man in 1986, this fool was emboldened to wear blackface in his string of robberies.