Carefully Planned Robbery Foiled By Wrong Turn, Police Say

Jose Arce Pleads Guilty To Robbing Bank

                 4:54 pm EST November 4, 2009
UPDATED: 6:35 pm EST November 4, 2009

  LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Louisville man has pleaded guilty to robbing a rural Indiana bank at gunpoint, and police say he could have pulled it off if not for a minor mistake.

Police said less than an hour after Jose Arce held up a bank, he was surrounded by police.

Investigators told WLKY where Arce went wrong.

“I thought he'd done a real good job,” Sheriff Claude Combs said.

Combs admired Arce's planning. He'd researched banks in the area and chose to hit the Campbellsburg National City Bank. The robbery went down without a hitch. Police said Arce had a police scanner and an escape route.

One detective said it was the perfect crime -- until the suspect deviated from his plan.

“The mistake he made was a wrong turn. That's what the mistake was. He went through Mitchell and down,” said Combs.

Arce told police he planned to go left toward Salem and pick up Highway 150. Traffic congestion and panic forced him to turn right. The decision cost him nearly a half-hour.

That gave Topping and a handful of deputies plenty of time to get into place.

And then Arce made another mistake, police said. He went through the trouble of renting a car in Kentucky and stealing an Indiana license plate to put on it.

“If he had stopped anywhere along the line and switched the plate with the Kentucky one back on, chances are he would've got away,” said Topping.

Police in both counties remind robbers that even after committing the crime, you're never home free.

“We work together. We work together as a team for the people,” said Combs. “You're going to have police officers everywhere and they're looking for you.”  Police said less than an hour after Jose Arce held up a bank, he was surrounded by police.

Investigators told WLKY where Arce went wrong.

“I thought he'd done a real good job,” Sheriff Claude Combs said.

Combs admired Arce's planning. He'd researched banks in the area and chose to hit the Campbellsburg National City Bank. The robbery went down without a hitch. Police said Arce had a police scanner and an escape route.

One detective said it was the perfect crime -- until the suspect deviated from his plan.

“The mistake he made was a wrong turn. That's what the mistake was. He went through Mitchell and down,” said Combs.

Arce told police he planned to go left toward Salem and pick up Highway 150. Traffic congestion and panic forced him to turn right. The decision cost him nearly a half-hour.

That gave Topping and a handful of deputies plenty of time to get into place.

And then Arce made another mistake, police said. He went through the trouble of renting a car in Kentucky and stealing an Indiana license plate to put on it.

“If he had stopped anywhere along the line and switched the plate with the Kentucky one back on, chances are he would've got away,” said Topping.

Police in both counties remind robbers that even after committing the crime, you're never home free.

“We work together. We work together as a team for the people,” said Combs. “You're going to have police officers everywhere and they're looking for you.”

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.wlky.com/news/21523379/detail.html