Suspect left name and address at robbery scene
A man who allegedly held up banks by claiming he had a bomb in a bag was arrested after police found the bag actually contained books – including a phone book that had a mailing label with the man’s full name and address.
“It was clearly not his best move,” Police Chief John Romero said.
George Melendez was arrested on Thursday at his home in Lowell, Massachusetts and charged with the January 6 robbery of a bank in Dracut. Police said he is also likely to face charges in bank robberies in Lawrence and Salem, New Hampshire.
Investigators said Melendez would hand staff a note claiming to have a bomb in his bag and demand money. As he left with the cash, he would leave behind the bag, prompting Dracut and Salem police to call in bomb squads as a precaution, police said.
In each case, the satchel-type bags contained tangled wires and books.
After he allegedly targeted a Sovereign Bank in Lawrence last week, police found a Lowell-area phone book in the bag left behind. They went to the address listed on the label and arrested Melendez, who also fit the bank staff description of the robber.
“It was so easy, so simple, it was hard to believe,” Romero told The Eagle-Tribune.
