Man Tries to Rob Bank With a Stolen Kitten—and Gets Caught

A man stole a kitten from a pet store and tried to use it to rob a bank in Beltsville, Maryland, on Monday. The plan fell apart almost immediately. Prince George's County police arrested him, and the kitten went back to the rescue group that had placed her in the store The Guardian.

Here's what happened: The suspect walked into Pet Supplies Plus and took a kitten named Magnolia from the adoption section. Store manager Aaron Kurkowski said the man used a key to open the cat habitat and grabbed her while no one was watching NBC Washington. The kitten, a three-and-a-half-month-old black and white kitten, came from Beltsville Community Cats, a local rescue group The Guardian.

The man then walked across the parking lot to a nearby PNC bank branch with Magnolia in his arms. Once inside, he asked the bank manager to hold the kitten while he wrote a note. Then he handed the note to a teller and demanded cash. The whole thing failed, and police arrested him without anyone getting hurt WJLA. Magnolia stayed in the bank manager's office the whole time and remained safe The Guardian.

When Stephanie Stullich from Beltsville Community Cats arrived at the pet store, she found the parking lot filled with police cars. The kitten was returned to the rescue shelter after the arrest NBC Washington.

Police have not named the suspect, and the investigation is still open. But one detail stands out: employees at Pet Supplies Plus told NBC Washington that the man had visited the store almost every day for about two weeks before the robbery, each time paying close attention to Magnolia. That raises a question: Did he plan the whole scheme around this specific kitten, or did he just grab her on the spur of the moment as a prop for a robbery he was already planning NBC Washington?

The way the robbery attempt unfolded is odd when you think about it. Bank robberies that use written notes usually work because they're quick — a customer hands a note to a teller, nobody talks, and the robber leaves fast. Handing a kitten to the bank manager and then waiting to write out the note meant that the suspect spent time with people, created more chances for the plan to go wrong, and made it harder to escape. Whether he panicked, didn't think it through, or had some other reason for doing it that way is something prosecutors may explore as the case moves forward.

No information has been released about how much money the man tried to take, or what charges he might face. Police said the investigation is still ongoing and more details will be shared later.

For the rescue group, the ending was simple: Magnolia, a kitten they had placed for adoption, came back to them unharmed after an ordinary day at the pet store turned into a crime scene.