A robber with a note hit a bank on U.S. 19 N Monday afternoon and got away before officers arrived. But Wednesday, Clearwater police officers were waiting for Anthony J. Russo when the 40-year-old man checked in with his probation officer not far from the police station, officials said.

“When he went to see his probation officer, he was wearing the same clothes (as) when he robbed the bank,” said Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor.

Russo lives at 40 Bay Esplanade, Apt. 3, in Clearwater Beach. About 2:30 p.m. Monday, Shelor said, Russo went into a Wachovia Bank in the 25700 block of U.S. 19 N and handed a note to a teller demanding money.

Russo escaped, Shelor said, but he left behind fingerprints that officers used together with video surveillance to identify him.

The police officers learned that Russo was scheduled to visit his probation officer two days later. Around noon Wednesday, Russo checked in with the officer at a building at Lake Avenue and Park Street - about two blocks from the Clearwater police station.

Russo was charged with bank robbery and was being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.

This article was found on SPTimes.com