Human Flower Project
Flowers as Misdirection
In two recent U.S. bank robberies, flowers are accessories to the crime.
A thief “disarms” bank staff with flowers in Minneapolis
Photo: via KARE
Those Minnesota criminals sure have style!
A man bearing a lovely bouquet (they appear to be pink roses—hard to be sure with those fuzzy surveillance cameras) pulled a gun on the teller of a Minneapolis bank last Thursday and demanded that money be loaded into a black canvas sack.
Did he give the teller those flowers? We’re not sure, but the same fellow’s also suspected in two other recent bank holdups in the area (because there were pink flowers involved in those crimes, too?).
In Maple Grove, Minnesota, another thief drew an unwitting local florist into his scheme. According to the FBI, he “paid a florist to deliver a bouquet and a wrapped package to a Maple Grove Wells Fargo Bank….. In that package was what appeared to be a bomb” (presumably one of those cannonball looking things with a long sparky fuse).
As the package was opened, the thief called the bank manager and demanded that a bag of cash be delivered to his limo, idling just outside.
Presto! Flowers! Stick ‘em Up!
Image: Discount Tricks
In the world of magic this is called “misdirection”: using some prop or gesture to put observers off guard. “Look over there!”—not here, as I’m dealing from the bottom of the deck. To this end, what could be more eye-catching and disarming than flowers? The fact is, both these flower plots worked (though a suspect’s been arrested in the Maple Grove case).
About a year ago a thief in Boise, Idaho, held up the Key Bank, jumped into a yellow getaway car and drove off. Apparently, he didn’t get far, nor did he intend to. He stopped into a local flower shop and spent one new $50 bill on blooms. A case of misdirection-backfire: the $50 note was easy evidence, promptly traced back to the bank.
Robbery 101: Flash your flowers before or AS you break the law, not afterward. It’s hard to vanish with a rose between your teeth.