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‘It helps’: Suspect handed over his name, address in bank robbery

Michael Harrell, 54, is shown in this mugshot photo from Aug. 1, 2019, in Cleveland, Ohio. Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department

The FBI has solved an Ohio bank robbery in record time thanks to one man: the alleged bank robber himself.

Authorities say a 54-year-old man handed his name and address over with the hold-up note when he allegedly robbed a U.S. Bank in Cleveland on Monday.

“This is a robbery. Don’t get nobody hurt,” the hold-up note read, according to a police report obtained by KITV in Cleveland.

However, authorities were more interested in what was on the other side of the note.

The hold-up message had been written on the back of a Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles form, according to Special Agent Vicki Anderson of the FBI. The form listed the name and address of Michael Harrell, who investigators later identified as the same man in security footage from the robbery.

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“When the teller took the note, and looked at it, and looked at the other side, she saw his name,” Anderson told local news station Fox 8.

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Anderson says the teller actually referred to the suspect by name while she filled a bag with cash for him.

“[She] gave him the money and called him ‘Michael’ and then notified law enforcement,” Anderson said.

He got away with approximately $200, Fox 8 reports.

Anderson says the slip-up made it much easier to identify a suspect in the robbery.

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“When you present a note that has your name already on it, and an address, it helps law enforcement tremendously,” she said.

Harrell was arrested on Thursday, Fox 8 reports.

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