By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON — This may not be in the Prince George’s County police manual, but it goes without saying that using the police cruiser to pull off a bank robbery is frowned upon.
Prince George’s County Police Officer Eddie Lee Smith Jr., 41, was indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy to commit bank larceny and attempted bank larceny charges after he allegedly used his patrol car to try to pull off a robbery, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Officer Smith drove accomplice Earl Blake, 53, in his police cruiser to the Sun Trust Bank in Temple Hills, Md., a suburb of Washington, on June 10, 2009.
Blake entered the bank with a power saw. The phone lines had been cut and a fire alarm went off, authorities said. Officer Smith remained in his patrol car.
When the fire department arrived, Officer Smith told them to leave and assured them he had already checked out everything, authorities said.
Meanwhile, Blake ran from the bank and Officer Smith chased after him before giving up. Officer Smith then got in his car and left. Other police later arrested Blake, authorities said.
