'Average Joe' Robber Stymies Feds
By BRUCE SCHREINER, AP
04:56 PM ET 08/19/99
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - At least a dozen banks in Kentucky and Ohio have been
robbed by a bespectacled man with a leather portfolio and such an unassuming demeanor that
the FBI calls him ``Average Joe.'' The nickname belies his skill at evading police
since knocking over his first bank nearly 1.5 years ago.
``He's just your average-sized white male,'' Patrick Bashore, an FBI spokesman
in Louisville, said Thursday. ``He could be anybody's next-door neighbor. It appears he
could fit in just about anywhere.''
``Average Joe'' poses as a customer before calmly stepping forward in line to
demand money from a teller. Warning of a weapon that never appears, he takes the cash and
exits quickly, although not in a run.
Average Joe is suspected of one robbery each month this year except for March.
The FBI believes his most recent holdup was Tuesday in Lexington, where he is now
suspected of robbing three banks.
Six of the robberies have been in Kentucky and six in Ohio. The robberies have
occurred along Interstate 75, extending from Lexington to Huber Heights, Ohio, just north
of Dayton. The FBI won't say exactly how much was taken in the robberies, but
Bashore said the total is less than $75,000.
The man is clean-shaven and about 35 years old. He dresses casually, wears large
black-framed glasses and baseball caps with varying emblems, and several times has carried
a large, dark-leather portfolio.
``He's such an Average Joe, he's not drawing attention to himself,'' said Linny
Cloyd, a detective in Florence, Ky., where Average Joe is suspected in two bank robberies.
The FBI has posted a bank photo of Average Joe on its Web site in the hope that
someone can pick him out of a crowd.
The FBI's picture of ``Average Joe'' can be seen at:
www.fbi.gov/mostwant/unkn/unkn.htm
BANK ROBBERY
