Maurice Blacher says he robbed a Clearwater bank at his elder brother Marlon's urging and later was a getaway driver for him.
By STEVE THOMPSON
Published September 11, 2004
Maurice Blacher said that during his first bank robbery he walked into the bank, thought about jail, and walked out.
"I was scared to do it," he said.
But he caught his breath, and walked back in.
He waited in line for less than a minute. Then, as he handed the teller his note, he looked into her eyes.
"I could see her heart just stop."
On Aug. 28, Pasco County sheriff's deputies arrested Blacher, whom they suspected of robbing multiple banks across Tampa Bay this summer. They still are searching for his brother, Marlon Blacher, who also is a suspect and is considered armed and dangerous.
The Sheriff's Office had been searching for a serial bank robber possibly responsible for six bank robberies in Pasco County, two in Clearwater and two in Hillsborough County.
In an interview earlier this month at the Land O'Lakes Detention Center, Maurice Blacher, 23, said he robbed only one bank in Clearwater and drove the getaway car after his brother robbed a second. He said he doesn't know about any of the others.
"We were out driving around and he brought up how easy it was," Blacher said of the July robbery of a Bank of America at 2200 Belleair Road in Clearwater. "You just walk in and hand them the note and walk out," Blacher said his brother told him.
It didn't sound like a good idea, said Blacher, whose most recent work was in carpet restoration. But he said his brother convinced him.
His brother handed him a yellow handwritten note, Blacher said, which he didn't read before passing it to the teller.
It said, "I have a gun, don't do anything, give me the money, don't talk to anyone," the teller told detectives.
As Blacher walked out of the bank with a stack of bills in his pocket, he heard a pop and saw a cloud of red mist. His arm and his leg burned as he realized a dye pack had exploded.
He pulled the money out of his pocket and dropped it on the ground. The ink, he said, was very difficult to wash off later.
When he drove the getaway car after his brother robbed another bank the following week, his brother gave him a $700 cut, Blacher said.
Blacher spent some of the money on food and cigarettes, but still had $500 when he was arrested as he stopped at a gas station with friends in Tarpon Springs, he said.
He feels bad about scaring the Bank of America teller, Blacher said.
"To think that I struck that fear in somebody else," he said. "It's terrible."
Detectives have spent hours questioning the former Tarpon Springs High School student. They said they found his palm print on the Bank of America's counter, he said. They showed him photos of robberies from numerous banks' surveillance cameras.
Asked by a reporter whether his brother was the robber in the photos, Blacher said, "From the pictures I saw, yeah."
Blacher, of 1929 Hacienda Way in Holiday, was transferred to the Pinellas County Jail, where he is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail. He faces two counts of armed robbery.
Blacher was previously convicted for car theft and writing bad checks, state records show.
His brother, Marlon, 27, of 7709 Cedar Hurst Drive in Tampa has a lengthy criminal history that includes prison time for car theft, fraud, child abuse and worthless checks. Detectives think he might be driving a late model, burgundy Geo Prism.
Marlon Blacher has used his brother's name as an alias, according to Maurice Blacher's arrest warrant.
Maurice Blacher said he doesn't know where his brother is, but he thinks the authorities will catch up to him.
"Eventually, I'm sure they will," he said. "He can't run forever."
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office asks anyone with any information to call Detective Pete Weekes toll-free at 1-800-854-2862, ext. 7279.
Steve Thompson covers crime in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6245. His e-mail address is sthompson@sptimes.com
