A man accused of robbing the same Rochester bank on successive days was caught in the southern Twin Cities on Tuesday, soon after a news reporter on live television spotted the suspect and excused himself to call police, authorities said.
The initial robbery of Sterling Bank on Hwy. 52 near NW. 55th Street occurred late Monday morning, police said. Wearing a sweatshirt from a Minneapolis road race with the words "get lucky" on the front, the robber told the teller he had a gun, was given an undisclosed amount of cash and fled, police said.
The same man came back for more around noon Tuesday, went through the same routine and fled in a stolen van on northbound Hwy. 52, authorities said. The van was stopped near Coates in Dakota County, and a man was arrested.
The 36-year-old suspect has been living at a halfway house in Rochester after his release from federal prison for robbing a bank in Minneapolis in 2009, said Rochester Police Capt. John Sherwin.
The aftermath of the second holdup was caught on live TV by a reporter from Mason City, Iowa, who was in front of the bank reporting on the previous day's crime.
Adam Sallet of KIMT-TV had just begun his report when a bank employee came running out, pointing.
"That's the robber," the employee said. "That's him right there."
Sallet didn't miss a beat.