Bank Heist Suspect Fingered At
Poker Table Was Hollywood ManDecember 23, 2004
A Hollywood man was willing to bet that he got away with robbing a bank, but his luck ran out at the poker table.
Investigators said Mark Cherico was arrested minutes after he robbed a Washington Mutual, shed a layer of clothes in a parking lot and headed across the street to Dania Jai-Alai for a few hands of poker Saturday.
A witness from the bank tailed Cherico, 36, of Hollywood, the whole way and pointed him out to Broward Sheriff's Office deputies at the seven-card stud table, surrounded by other players.
Cherico didn't have much time to play -- he started with a $50 buy-in and had about $45 in chips left when deputies showed up and handcuffed him.
''They came back and confiscated his chips,'' said Dania Jai-Alai general manager John Knox.
Knox wasn't sure how Cherico's cards were doing at the time.
''They didn't confiscate those,'' he said.
Knox did not think Cherico was a regular at the poker tables; he thought the proximity of Dania Jai-Alai to the bank provided the suspect with an easy getaway.
“My opinion would be that he wanted to get out of the public eye real quick and blend in with a group of people, so he was sitting at a table with 10 people.''
The nearly $7,000 from the bank, still in wrappers, was in Cherico's possession when he was arrested. He told deputies his name was Jim Bowie, but they later discovered his real identity.
Said Robert Smith, the witness who followed Cherico on foot from the bank: “He had a little gambling problem, I guess.''
According to BSO, Cherico -- who according to state records also goes by Mark Russo, Mark Chirico, Mark Cipolla and Bowie -- went into the bank at 300 E. Dania Beach Blvd. about 12:30 p.m. Saturday and gave the teller a note asking for money.
Smith, who said he is in his 30s, noticed that something strange was going on with the customer next to him. He realized it was a bank robbery and thought he should probably tackle the suspect, but he held back.
Turns out Smith was right to worry. In 1992, after the FBI referred to him as the ''Clearasil Bandit'' in a California bank robbery, Cherico -- using the spelling Chirico -- threatened to sue because he found the bad-skin nickname so humiliating.
It was not clear if he ever filed suit.
Luck has often been against Cherico when it comes to criminal endeavors. In 1990, he got out of the front door of a Fort Lauderdale bank with more than $1,000 when a red dye pack exploded, splattering his clothes. He took a cab to another bank and robbed it for cash to replace the stained clothing. He was arrested after his shopping spree when an officer recognized him.
Florida Department of Corrections records show that Cherico served seven months in 1990 and 15 months from 1994 to 1996 in connection with the 1990 bank robbery. He has also served time for possession of cocaine.
On Wednesday, Cherico remained in the Broward County Jail in lieu of $7,500 bail on one count of strong-arm robbery.
