When it comes to robbing banks, every bandit knows a perfect disguise is essential to successfully making off with loads of cash and evading police.
Surveillance videos from across the US have captured some of the most wacky and dumbfounding costumes some robbers have sported during their hold-ups.
While some stuck to the basics – wearing a mask that hides their identity – others took it to Hollywood production-style heights, with impersonating celebrities.
One man disguised himself as legendary soul singer Rick James and a white man made off with hundreds while wearing a $650 mask that looked like a black man.
A popular bank-robbing ensemble seems to be a nun habit, as two Hispanic women are still on the run after using the disguise on Tuesday in Pennsylvania.
Still, even some of the most elaborate get-ups weren’t good enough because local police officers were able to track down and arrest most of these bank robbers.
Lovebirds Navahcia Edwards and Lyndon Wesley weren’t living up to the pious reputation that nuns have when they stole $120,000 from an Illinois bank while waving guns in 2011. Edwards, who worked before at a bank, and Wesley didn’t fool police and they were put behind bars
Police were hot on the tail of Barack Obama’s look-a-like, John Griffin Jr in 2013. Griffin walked into a New Hampshire bank wearing a mask of the former president and was arrested minutes after he tried to start his own treasury
This old-timer is still on the loose after holding up 16 banks in California. The senior citizen was last active in 2011 but police believe they haven’t caught the grandfather because he may just be sporting a very wrinkly mask
This Santa Claus was on his own naughty list in 2015 when he stopped passing out candy canes at a Memphis bank and handed out demands to staff. Police still haven’t tracked down the man with the snowy white beard, as the North Pole seems to be out of their jurisdiction
One robber disguised himself as the legendary soul singer Rick James before he held up an Indiana Members Credit Union in Indianapolis in September 2016
These two Hispanic women are still on the run after wearing nun habits in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. They wielded guns and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash
Even a $650 disguise wasn’t enough to fool police in Ohio in 2010. Conrad Zdzierak was arrested after he robbed four banks dressed up as a black man (right). He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his elaborate disguise
Not-so-genius Matthew Maxwell thought the laws of physics and theft didn’t apply to him when he robbed 10 banks in Tampa, ending in 2015. The Einstein got 10 years in prison
Darth Vadar swapped his high tech weapon for an old-fashioned rifle when he held up a bank in North Carolina in 2015. And much like his alter-ego, Thomas Gilbert himself revealed his true identify when he bragged about the robbery on Facebook
A judge didn’t think Carolyn Williams was so funny after she showed up to a bank in Pennyslvania in 2010 and claimed she had a bomb and was being forced to rob the bank. She had plenty of time to clown around in prision after being sentenced to up to 10 years
John Wilkes Booth would roll over in his grave upon seing this man’s diguise. Sporting an Abraham Lincoln-styled beard, this suspect handed over a note demanding money while armed. He made off with $100, which would have been a sizeable chunk of cash in the 1860s
J.Neil Jacoby Jacobs allegedly robbed a South Carolina Bank of America in full drag in June