Reel to Real Crime: High salaried-man attempts action movie-inspired bank robbery to pay off his IDR1.5 billion debt

The suspect, identified as 43-year-old BS, tried to pull off the robbery at a Bank BJB branch on RS Fatmawati Street in Cilandak, South Jakarta (pictured) on Tuesday afternoon. Screenshots from Google Street View and video
The suspect, identified as 43-year-old BS, tried to pull off the robbery at a Bank BJB branch on RS Fatmawati Street in Cilandak, South Jakarta (pictured) on Tuesday afternoon. Screenshots from Google Street View and video

A Jakarta man who attempted to commit an armed bank robbery to pay off his mountain of debt was reportedly inspired by Hollywood heist movies.

The suspect, identified as 43-year-old BS, tried to pull off the robbery at a Bank BJB branch on RS Fatmawati Street in Cilandak, South Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon. Once he entered the bank, he pointed an airsoft gun to the employees, ordering them to lie down. A security officer, identified by his initial F, didn’t want to comply with BS’ order, which upset the bank-robbing hopeful, prompting BS to fire the airsoft gun in the bank.

The security officer dared to resist the robbery, as he quickly realized that the explosion from the airsoft gun was not that of a real gun.

“The security officer was hit by the airsoft gun in the cheek. There was a scuffle and some [Bank BJB] employees came out [of the building] and shouted for help, at the same time there were our officers on patrol. The suspect was successfully caught,” South Jakarta Police chief Budhi Herdi Susianto said at a press conference yesterday

BS was brought to South Jakarta Police HQ for questioning, where he remains under custody.

Budhi said that BS is an HRD staff at a privately-owned bank, mentioning that he receives a pretty high monthly income at IDR60 million (US$4,178). According to Budhi, BS’ bank robbery was motivated by his IDR1 billion (US$69,636) debt he borrowed from an acquaintance to run a business and IDR500 million (US$34,823) of interest from his late payment, which was due three months ago. On top of that, BS had been pursued by debt collectors.

“The person concerned committed his act because he was influenced by the movies he watched. He mostly worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. He watched a lot [of movies] and imitated [the robbery scenes he saw],” Budhi said.

Some equipment that BS brought to the crime scene was said to be similar with what you would see in a typical action flick, including his airsoft gun (though usually we see heavier artillery in the movies), a folding knife, smoke bombs, shock devices, and cable ties, the latter of which was prepared to take bank employees hostage. Budhi said that BS planned to use the smoke bombs to escape should he be in a tight position.

Prior to the heist, BS had surveyed several banks along the Fatmawati area before choosing the bank because it didn’t have many visitors compared to others.

BS has been charged with theft with violence under Indonesia’s criminal code (KUHP) and possession of weapons under the Emergency Law, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.



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