'Milli Vanilli Bandits' on Crime Spree in Colorado
Law enforcement wants two men nicknamed the Milli Vanilli Bandits to face the music.
The FBI and the Denver police are on the hunt for a crime duo suspected of robbing more than a dozen stores at gunpoint in black wigs. Neither the FBI or Denver Police specified where the nickname "Milli Vanilli Bandits" originally came from, but said the name is derived from the wigs they wear. Milli Vanilli is an '80s pop duo known for their long dreadlocks, who infamously had their 1990 Grammy revoked in a lip-syncing scandal.
According to press releases from both the FBI and the Denver police, the two suspects are a five-foot-eight white or Hispanic male, wearing a gray hoodie and mask, and a black male, six feet tall wearing a gray hoodie and a long black wig. The pair is suspected of holding up 13 stores and businesses at gunpoint, including a Subway, a Family Dollar and a Quality Inn.
The robberies span from Nov. 9 to Nov. 29. "Most of these robberies take place in the evening, close to closing time," FBI spokesperson Dave Joly tells ABC News. Denver police would not comment further on the investigation beyond the press release.
The FBI joined the investigation Tuesday because the robberies may violate the Hobbs Act, a 1951 federal statute that prohibits the obstruction of interstate commerce by robbery.
Officials are asking people with information about the crimes to contact police. "Don't try to intervene, don't try to apprehend them, call 911? Joly said.
These are just the latest bandits to wear colorful disguises. In 2010, Pittsburgh authorities said a man robbed a bank wearing a woman's blond wig, fake breasts under a sweater and clown pants.