Suspect robs Fairfax bank, forgets to flee: Busted

In the annals of Criminals Who Are Also Idiots -- what WTOP likes to call "Knuckleheads in the News" -- we may soon add the man police say robbed a Fairfax County bank Thursday afternoon, but was still standing in the bank's parking lot with his ill-gotten booty when the police arrived several minutes later.

The scene: The BB&T Bank branch at 5203 Franconia Road in Franconia.

The time: 4:58 p.m. Thursday.

Habtom. (Fairfax Police)

The crime: A man walked in to the bank, approached a teller and demanded money, Fairfax police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said. Money given. Man "fled." Alarm sounded.

The dragnet: At 5:01 p.m., three minutes later, a Fairfax officer pulled into the bank's parking lot. Standing there in the lot, with the stolen money, was the robber, according to police.

Caldwell could not explain why the man stuck around. Three minutes is a quick police response, but it would have still been enough time to at least stroll over to the large strip mall on nearby Rose Hill Road.

Makele G. Habtom, 29, of the 5200 block of Cannes Court, also in the Franconia area, was arrested and charged with robbery.

Police said he was not armed. And he almost certainly was not dangerous.

-- Tom Jackman