Self-Styled 'Indy' Raids L.I. Bank Branch

May 14, 2008— -- He has played a swashbuckling pirate, a sinful rabbi and an Indiana Hoosier.

Now, the pudgy pilferer who Long Island authorities say is responsible for at least 10 banks robberies or attempted bank robberies in three New York counties has donned an "Indiana Jones" fedora-style cap for a raid on yet another bank branch.

It could be a timely touch from a fan less than two weeks before the "Indiana Jones" series welcomes a fourth film, the "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," to its famed trilogy. Or maybe it is just the latest in a line of oddball costumes that to date have prevented authorities from identifying the suspect by name.

"Obviously, he doesn't want anybody to know exactly who he is," Nassau County Detective Sgt. John Giambrone said during a news conference this week. "He feels if he wears the disguises, he doesn't have to keep his head down, he has a better chance of getting away."

The trail, however, is hot. On Monday, the thespian thief allegedly hit a pair of banks about three miles apart in Elmont and New Hyde Park, N.Y., in less than a half-hour.

In each instance, the suspect entered the bank, presented a note demanding money from a teller and fled on foot, according to a pair of police department releases. No customers or employees were injured during the bank robberies, and authorities haven't disclosed the amount of stolen loot.

The only difference in garb, police said, was the suspect's jacket, which changed from a blue, waist-length coat in the earlier robbery to a trench-style number in the second.

Another bank was hit by the same man last Friday. In all, he's connected to at least 10 New York robberies, including three in Suffolk County, two in Nassau County, and two in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

As silly and crude as some of the suspect's costumes may be, he has carried a bag with him and in certain instances has reportedly made references to bombs and nerve gas as part of his cash demand.

"The M.O. he started in 2006 was very unique," Giambrone said. "Most people do not commit robberies in any jurisdiction using a hoax bomb device."

The suspect also reportedly favors rainy-day robberies — weather that can give his man-made disguises an additional, natural layer of cover-up.

While bank robberies may be on the rise in the United States, experts say the suspects seem to be getting dumber. One criminal justice professor in an interview with ABC New last August quite simply called it a "loser crime."

In the majority of cases, the yield is low, the suspect is caught and the sentences are tough. Nearly 60 percent of bank robberies were solved in 2006, a number that was dramatically up, according to the chief of the FBI violent crimes unit.