A warrant for Michael Harrell's arrest has been issued. Photo / Supplied
A warrant for Michael Harrell's arrest has been issued. Photo / Supplied
A bumbling thief has made headlines after making a rookie error while attempting to rob a bank.
According to the FBI, Michael Harrell, 54, allegedly tried to order a bank teller to hand over some cash from a US Bank located in Cleveland, Ohio in the US last Monday morning,reports news.com.au.
However, he made one glaring mistake.
He passed a note to the bank teller informing them it was a robbery — but the note was written on the back of a document from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) — which had the man's name and address clearly printed on it.
"When the teller took the note, and looked at it and looked at the other side, she saw his name. He had used a note that he had used earlier at the BMV and it had his name on it," Special Agent Vicki Anderson, of the FBI's Cleveland field office, told WJW.
All Access. All in one subscription.From $2 per week
Ms Anderson said the victim referred to Mr Harrell by his name and gave him an unknown sum of money before calling the police, who later identified him on the bank's security cameras.
She said the wannabe crook wasn't the first person to bungle a robbery.
"We've had individuals drop cell phones that have all their identifying information in it," she said.
"A lot of times, we're sending out pictures, we have no idea who this person could be or what part of town they could be from.
"And when you present a note that has your name already on it, and address, it helps law enforcement tremendously."
Just last month, it was revealed that another dimwitted thief had been identified in just 20 minutes after he was captured on CCTV — with his first name clearly on display.
Chris Thomason was identified within 20 minutes after CCTV footage showed him committing a crime while wearing his name tag. Photo / Facebook
Placer County Sheriff's Office, from California in the US, took to Facebook in July to reveal suspect Chris Thomason had been caught thanks to some amateur sleuthing by social media users.
The saga began in March this year when CCTV footage captured him allegedly using an elderly victim's stolen credit card and identity in a shop.
However, he made one big mistake — he was wearing a mechanic's uniform complete with a name tag with his real first name printed on it at the time.
After his arrest on July 8, Placer County Sheriff's Office said Facebook users had helped identify the man "within 20 minutes".
Mr Thomason is now facing charges of felony identity theft and is being extradited to Placer County from Sacramento County.
A warrant for Mr Harrell's arrest has been issued.
