His own note fingers suspect

Print left behind during robbery leads to arrest

Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009

He should have followed his own advice.

"Don't try nothing dumb" read the holdup note that Keishon Lamar Bethea reportedly passed to a bank teller during a July 10 heist in Waldorf, according to a court document. Also on the message, police discovered one of Bethea's fingerprints, leading to his arrest, the records stated.

According to the charging document in the recently indicted case, three robbers entered a Chevy Chase Bank on Smallwood Drive and passed a teller the note, which stated nobody would be hurt if she gave them an envelope stuffed with cash. The message also thanked her.

Two of the men stood near the bank entrance and "clearly acted as lookouts," a detective wrote in the charging document. The teller gave the third man $3,000 in cash, and then all the robbers walked out of the bank branch, the document stated.

The hold-up note stayed with the bank employee and yielded a fingerprint that investigators linked to Bethea after they developed him as a suspect, according to the court papers.

In an interview with a detective on Oct. 20, Bethea acknowledged he handed the note to the teller and admitted to planning the robbery with two other people, the documents state. The remaining suspects haven't been identified, according to police.

Bethea, 25, of Washington, D.C., is charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and theft of more than $500.

Woman charged with 14 counts of theft

A former employee at an Indian Head homeowners association was charged with stealing more than $6,000 in dues paid by residents, according to court documents.

Jessalynn Mae Vargas is accused of funneling funds from the Potomac Heights Mutual Home Owners' Association to her personal bank account in a series of 14 withdrawals, the papers state. The association account contained money from residents and was used to fund repairs to neighborhood property.

Vargas, a payroll specialist with the association, had access to the group's money, but wasn't supposed to withdraw cash from the account without permission, the documents report.

However, between June 3 and Aug. 4, a total of $6,136.19 was transferred from the association account to her personal account, court records state.

On Aug. 6, the manager with the association told police that a former employee, Vargas, had stolen the funds, the documents indicate.

Vargas, 28, of Clinton is charged with theft scheme involving more than $500 and 14 counts of theft of less than $500. A grand jury indicted the case Nov. 20.

brodgers@somdnews.com