Md. Officer and Alleged Helper Charged in Bank Break-In

The cop drove the robber to the bank, police say. He also brought the electric saw, the extra blades, the extension cord and the pry bar.

Charging documents filed yesterday against Eddie L. Smith Jr., a corporal with the Prince George's County police, provide a wealth of new details about his alleged role in a bank burglary early Wednesday in Temple Hills.

Smith, 41, is accused of providing power tools for a partner in crime to break into a safe at the bank and of standing guard, armed and in uniform, to ensure that the burglary was not interrupted.

"Any hardworking officer who learns the details about this case is going to get angry," said Andy Ellis, a county police spokesman. "It's been a shot to the gut. One minute officers were investigating a bank burglary, the next they were learning it involved a police officer. . . . If there's one good thing, it's that this agency uncovered the officer's wrongdoing, and when we learned of it, we moved very quickly."

Phone lines and other wires at the SunTrust bank branch in the 4600 block of Old Branch Avenue were cut after the bank closed Tuesday evening. About six hours later, a secret alarm -- detectives think it was triggered by sparks or smoke from the burglars' electric saw -- brought firetrucks screaming toward the bank.

Firefighters spotted a masked man fleeing from the bank and an officer who they said appeared to be giving chase. According to one source, that officer was Smith, who had not radioed to dispatchers that he was pursuing a suspect.

County police moved swiftly against Smith, a 16-year veteran who lives in the 9700 block of Rider Court in Fort Washington. He was arrested early yesterday and charged with two counts of breaking and entering, malicious destruction of property, possession of burglar's tools, permitting the use of burglar's tools, and, because he was carrying his police-issued gun, a sixth charge: "use of a handgun firearm capable of being concealed upon the person in commission of a felony."

His alleged co-conspirator, Earl Blake Sr., 52, of the 1900 block of Brooks Drive in Capitol Heights, was charged with burglary and other offenses. They were being held yesterday at the county jail in Upper Marlboro -- Smith on $250,000 bond, Blake on $100,000.

Attempts yesterday to reach attorneys for the men were unsuccessful, and no one answered at addresses police provided for the suspects.

According to the charging documents, the burglary plot unraveled quickly after police captured Blake in a foot chase near the bank. Blake allegedly told investigators that he met Smith months ago and that the officer provided the tools and drove him to the bank in Smith's marked police cruiser. Police say Blake admitted to attempting to saw open the bank's ATM safe while Smith acted as a lookout.

Officers first grew suspicious when they captured Blake and found near him the corporal's police radio and a cellphone containing a record of calls to Smith's phone, according to sources close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Smith was still in uniform and at the bank, even though his shift had ended hours earlier, the sources said.

An event hours earlier also linked Smith to the bank, sources said:

After the bank closed Tuesday, Smith was the first to respond when an alarm company contacted police about phone lines to the bank having been cut and a possible break-in. The corporal radioed that the bank was "clear," indicating there was nothing suspicious and no need for other officers to respond, according to the sources.

In a statement, Police Chief Roberto L. Hylton said he was "disheartened" that a county police officer had been charged with a crime.

"I absolutely will not tolerate wrongdoing by any member of this agency," he said. "Bad cops have no place in our profession; they tarnish the good work that is being done by the rest of our employees. We will be very thorough in investigating this case, along with any others to which this investigation may lead."

The sources said detectives are examining the possibility that Smith is connected to several other bank burglaries in the county in recent months. The FBI is also investigating the crimes.

Ellis said investigators have no indication that other officers aided in the burglary. As is protocol, he said, detectives are probing similar burglaries.