That’s because the real suspect was a white man from Florida disguised as an African-American who pulled off a Mission Impossible style disguise that would even make Robert Downy Jr.’s character in “Tropic Thunder” proud.
Conrad Zdzierak, a former Seminole resident, was arrested earlier this month accused of robbing four banks and a CVS pharmacy in a three hour span.
Police said he eluded police by wearing a realistic silicone African American mask known as “The Player,” which transformed the very white, spike-haired Zdzierak into a very dark, bald black guy. Zdzierak, 30, also wore shades to cover his blue eyes.
The suspect seen in the surveillance photographs and that we were looking for, we believed to be an African American male,” Springdale Police Lieutenant Michael Mathis said.
“The suspect was actually a male, white, who was wearing an elaborate disguise.” Between robberies, Zdzierak would take off the mask and drive by police as they searched for the black suspect.
