When Ohio police put out an A.P.B. for a black male who had robbed five banks, they were puzzled as to why they could never catch the guy.
He always seemed to slip away, despite cops locking down the area around the target banks.
That's probably because the real suspect was a white guy from Florida disguised as an African-American. Blame this one on the magic of Hollywood.
Conrad Zdzierak, a former Seminole resident, was arrested earlier this month accused of robbing four banks and a CVS pharmacy in a three hour span, reported ABC Action News.
Police said he eluded police by wearing a mask known as "The Player," which transformed the very white, spike-haired Zdzierak into a very dark, bald black guy. Zdzierak, 30, also wore shades to cover his blue eyes.
The suspect seen in the surveillance photographs and that we were looking for, we believed to be an African American male," Springdale Police Lieutenant Michael Mathis said. "The suspect was actually a male, white, who was wearing an elaborate disguise."
Between robberies, Zdzierak would take off the mask and drive by police as they searched for the black suspect.
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So what uncovered this made by Hollywood mystery? A dye pack from one of the bank robberies exploded in the suspect's getaway car, which cops found parked outside a hotel.
A search of Zdzierak's room turned up the black face investigators were looking for. Zdzierak now faces aggravated robbery charges and is being held on $3 million bond.
