Bank Robber or Terrorist Money Man?

Kazzaz


For the rest of the story check out my comments at the end of this article.

Steve
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Slain gunman ID'd as ‘Reckless Robber'
FBI links Katy man to rash of recent bank heists

By MIKE GLENN
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
May 29, 2010, 12:44AM
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FBI
A surveillance image shows a suspect believed to be the "Reckless Robber" at a Spring Wells Fargo Bank in April.


A Katy man, now identified as Mouafak Kazzaz, was behind a rash of bank robberies throughout Texas that ended last week in a deadly shootout with Fort Bend County sheriff’s deputies, FBI officials said on Friday.

FBI investigators had been looking for Kazzaz, 26, since they linked him to an October 2008 hold-up of a Compass Bank branch at 204 W. 19th. Dubbed the “Reckless Robber,” Kazzaz was believed to be responsible for at least eight additional bank robberies in the Houston area and about 10 more in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.

FBI spokeswoman Pat Villafranca said the identification of the dead bank robber as Kazzaz was made partly through interviewing eyewitnesses.

FBI Bank robbery task force members gave Kazzaz the Reckless Robber nickname because he usually kept his finger on the trigger during the hold-ups and on several occasions pointed pistols at the heads of bank employees. He also gave his victims time limits to comply with his demands for cash, officials said.

Kazzaz relied on disguises to change his appearance. He was reported as being bald during some of the robberies while having hair that appeared to be painted silver or white during others. Kazzaz also was known to wear a fake mustache at times, officials said.

On May 22, Fort Bend County sheriff’s deputies spotted a van matching the description of a vehicle used earlier that day in a robbery at a Bank of America branch near Grand Parkway and U.S. 59, officials said. Deputy Charlie Scott ordered the van to pull over. The doors suddenly flew open and Kazzaz began shooting at the deputy with an automatic rifle. A barrage of rifle fire raked the deputy’s patrol car.

Scott was hit twice in the wrist and had a grazing head wound. Kazzaz lead law enforcement officers on a running gun battle that lasted about 20 minutes, officials said.

The chase ended when the van crashed through a fence along West Bellfort. Another deputy fatally shot Kazzaz, officials said.

Although FBI officials said they are confident Kazzaz is responsible for at least 20 bank hold-ups in Texas, the investigation will determine if he is linked to still other cases.

In February 2006, Kazzaz pleaded guilty to unlawfully carrying a weapon. He spent two days in jail and paid a $200 fine. Kazzaz also received two years probation and paid a $500 for drug possession, according to Harris County criminal records.
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Notice it took a week to get this story made public.

Sugar Land where I live, is one of many suburbs of Houston, as is Katy the alleged home of Kazzaz. We have a fairly large middle eastern population in this metro area.
This is the first middle eastern bank robber I have heard of in this area, and I've lived here since 1976.

I heard about this several days ago, from my next door neighbor.

My neighbor has a son who recently joined the Sugar Land Police Department, the department that responded to this incident, along with the Ft Bend County Sheriffs Department.

His son is a recently discharged, 12 year army vet, with multiple tours to Iraq. The son is around 30 years old. What I was told about this incident by my neighbor came from his son.

There were three bank robbers involved in this running gun battle, through the streets of Sugar Land. An AK-47 full auto was used by Kazzaz and he fired from the open back doors of the van. Kazzaz and the others eventually abandoned the van, ran into a wooded area, where Kazzaz committed suicide instead of being taken alive. One other robber was wounded, and the third gave up.

A woman driving in traffic was caught in the machine gun fire. She was shot through both hips as a bullet passed through her car.

Nationalities were not mentioned, but Kazzaz doesn't sound French to me. Interesting the FBI gave such a shallow account to the media. When taken with the recent (month old federal court unsealing) of the DHS Texas Mexico border area terror alert regarding Somali Al Shabaab/Al Qaeda coming in by the hundreds, we need to start getting alert, not just Texas.

Obama is going to keep covering for his muslim brothers, by muzzling the FBI.

Steve