Bulldozed By Karma: The Worst Bank Robbers In Texas and Their Failed Heists

Robbing banks in Texas is risky business.

After all, the Lone Star state is known for an overall enthusiasm for their right to bear arms. One can only imagine the amount of guts it takes to tell a teller 'stick 'em up'.

But having guts isn't quite the same as having smarts. And there's quite a few bank robbers I can think of who weren't exactly blessed in the smarts departments. Additionally, there's just as many bank robbers who have the smarts, but none of the skill.

Allow me to show you a few of the worst bank robbers in the state of Texas.

Two Strikes in Fort Worth

In May 2017, a man walked into a branch of Bank of America in Fort Worth, Texas and handed the teller the note that said "gimmie your money, this is a robbery".

The teller, while scared, was well aware that she had a nice thick plastic barrier between her and the bare-faced would-be thief. She declined to comply with the gentleman's demand. Instead, she hit the panic button and walked away.

The thief departed empty-handed.

His mother may have raised a bank robber, she certainly did not raise a quitter. A short time after the first attempt, the man walked into a nearby branch of Community National Bank & Trust of Texas in Lake Worth and tried his luck again.

This time he walked away with cash. But lo and behold, there was a dye pack in his cash. Police say that the dye pack exploded, potentially staining or burning the robber, who then dumped the cash he had come for.

Robber-ception in Arlington

In 2013, Larry Poulos looked his roommate in the eye and stated he felt like robbing a bank that day.

Poulos went to the Educational Employees Credit Union in Arlington, Texas and handed the teller the note--only, instead of the traditional 'gimmie your money', he had written 'bomb'.

The teller initially assumed Poulos was pulling a practical joke, only realizing he was serious when he implied that he had a weapon concealed in a plastic bag he was holding near his waist.

She handed over $5,000 and Poulos promptly fled back to his apartment. Unfortunately, as he ran, loose dollar bills fluttered out behind him in a fiscal trail of evidence.

This led to two things happening: neighbors who called the police and two beefy men who spied the cash and snatched the loot for themselves--but not before roughing him up a bit.

The Little Rascals in Houston

In March 2024, the FBI's Houston office announced they were looking for three juveniles who had robbed a Wells Fargo bank in north Houston.

The three boys--ages 11, 12, and 16--had entered the bank lobby wearing hoodies and handed a traditional note to the teller, who gave the Little Rascals an undisclosed amount of cash.

How were they caught? The grandmother of the 11 and 16 year olds recognized them in the photos released by the FBI and called the fuzz to turn them in.

The third one was recognized by law enforcement responding to a weapons call.

The best part? When the bank teller gave the boys the "undisclosed amount of cash"?

It was play money.