Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/360116
The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, work- ing in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force and Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, has arrested the suspect wanted for allegedly robbing a Venice bank on Nov. 2, 2013, the Sheriff's Office has reported. Around noon that day, a man wearing what was described as an Albert Einstein mask entered Wells Fargo, located at 1301 U.S. 41 Bypass South, demanded money and left with an undisclosed amount of cash, a news release explains. "A customer who pursued the suspect was sprayed with mace," it adds. The suspect initially fled on a bicycle and then left the area in a red sedan driven by an accomplice, the release notes. Detectives obtained the mask as evidence, and wit- nesses reported the suspect's description. In July, detectives investigating the case received a tip identifying Matthew Maxwell, 29, of 8413 N. Branch St., Tampa, as the sus- pect, the release adds. Detectives showed the witnesses a photo lineup, and they identified Maxwell as the bank robber, the release notes. Detectives then obtained a warrant for Maxwell. He was arrested on July 30 in Atlanta by the Atlanta Police Department, using the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office warrant. Maxwell is charged with one count of fel- ony Bank Robbery and one count of Battery. Elsewhere, Maxwell is a suspect in more than a dozen other crimes, the release says. Additional charges are pending. % MAN WHO WORE EINSTEIN MASK IN BANK ROBBERY ARRESTED A surveillance photo shows the suspect in the November bank robbery in Venice. Photo courtesy Sheriff's Office Matthew Maxwell/Contributed photo Sarasota News Leader August 8 & 15, 2014 Page 92