Clumsy Credit Union Crook Caught

Louisiana police spot something unusually amusing on the surveillance video that helped them crack the armed robbery case.

CU robbery suspect caught on video. (Video from Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Department)

While Louisiana police were investigating the armed robbery of a Shreveport branch of the $79 million Wesla Credit Union, they noticed something unusually amusing on the surveillance video that eventually led them to catch a clumsy credit union crook.

After stealing an undisclosed amount of cash from a teller at gunpoint, the robber fled on foot.

As he was making his getaway, the security video, shown here, showed the robber taking a tumble near a tree and a line of shrubs next to the branch’s drive-thru and parking lot. After he quickly emerged above the shrub line, his upper body slumped forward and with arms flailing he took two stumbling steps only to fall to the ground a second time. Taking a little bit longer to get back on his feet, he staggered another two steps as his body lurched down and hit the ground for the third time.

He jumped to his feet, again, finally managing to flee the scene of the crime only this time without falling.

“As he ran from the credit union, he fell repeatedly in the parking lot, dropping money and other evidence along the way,” Caddo Sherriff Steve Prator said of the November robbery.

On Dec. 31, police identified the suspect as Troy Donnell Baker, 38, of Bossier City, La. But investigators didn’t know where he was hiding out, so they publicly released the surveillance video hoping that someone would help them collar the man they believed to be the “clumsy crook,” according to a local media report.

A tip led to Baker’s whereabouts and his arrest on Jan. 6 without incident.

He was charged with armed robbery and remains in custody at the Caddo Correctional Center. His bond was set at $500,000.