Authorities are on the hunt for a man who hobbled into a Louisiana bank with a cane but dashed out moments later, cash in tow.
The strange incident was caught on camera at a Fidelity Bank location in Slidell, near New Orleans.
The footage shows the man entering the bank with a neck brace and a noticeable limp, using a short cane for support, as he handed a note to the teller.
In a swift move, he pocketed a bundle of cash into his fanny pack, dropped the act, and sprinted out the door.
According to police, the suspect devised an elaborate scheme, complete with a false limp and cane, to execute the heist. (Slidell Police Department)
The heist occurred just before 4 p.m. on Friday, November 7. Slidell Police reported the man loudly declared the robbery while demanding cash, then made his escape, showing no signs of the limp he initially displayed.
“The suspect entered the bank appearing to be handicapped, walking with a fake limp, a cane, and a neck brace,” police said in a Facebook post. “He then fled the scene, without a limp, with an undisclosed amount of cash.”
A spokesperson for the Slidell Police Department told Fox News Digital the man’s appearance immediately raised suspicions among bank employees.
“He walked in as a red flag, just out of pure appearance,” the spokesperson said. “Everything he was dressed in, from the hat to the neck brace, to the cane, to the multiple layers of clothing, to the face mask. As an employee of a financial institution, somebody comes in where you can barely make out their identity — that’s a red flag.”
A bank robber in Slidell, Louisiana, used a fake limp, cane and neck brace to disguise his identity before sprinting away with cash from Fidelity Bank. (Slidell Police Department)
Before staff could process what was happening, the robbery was underway.
“They were taken back, they were shook up. Thankfully, it went the way it did, he didn’t cause any harm to anybody,” the spokesperson said.
Police said the suspect sat inside for several minutes, waiting for customers to leave before making his move.
“He went in there and sat around for a couple of minutes because there were other patrons of the bank present,” the spokesperson said. “Once he was alone with the tellers, he slid a note. The victim didn’t even get a chance to read it before he started screaming, ‘This is a robbery!’ — just like something you’d see in a movie.”
The suspect grabbed the money, snatched back the note and ran.
Surveillance video captures the moment a man limps into a bank with cane, robs the teller, then runs out without fake limp. (Slidell Police Department)
The spokesperson said that while bank robberies are increasingly rare, this one stood out because of the suspect’s elaborate deception.
“We’ve dealt with bank robberies since the beginning of time,” the spokesperson said. “It’s not too common anymore just because of technology, but every now and then you get some bold person who thinks they can pull off a heist. The pure elaborate game plan that he went in there with — acting like he was crippled, going to that extent, and then just taking the money and running away, literally no injury — was something else.”
The video ends with the man sprinting through the parking lot, disappearing from sight and the limp completely gone.
Officers and K-9 units searched nearby neighborhoods, but investigators believe the man may have escaped the area in a vehicle.
The suspect is described as a Black male wearing a gray tracksuit, bucket hat, neck brace, clear fanny pack and a face mask.
Police are urging anyone who recognizes the man, or who may have captured him on home security cameras along Choctaw Drive, to contact the Slidell Police Department at 985-643-3131.
Officials said the suspect remains on the loose as investigators analyze new leads.
“We’re fishing through all the evidence,” the spokesperson said, “but I’ve been told we’ve finally got our hands on something potentially promising.”
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
