A bank robber who twice tried unsuccessfully to use taxis as getaway cars was sentenced to nearly seven years in federal prison.
Prosecutors said Derrick Aylor, 26, was already on parole for robbing a bank in California three years ago when he tried to pull off a similar heist in Rockville.
On April 29, 2008, police said Aylor walked into Chevy Chase Bank branch inside a Giant Food store and handed the teller a note demanding all the $100 bills from the top drawer.
The bank employee handed over $1,200 in cash, but also snuck in a concealed dye pack. Aylor rushed out of the bank and hopped in a nearby taxi.
As the cab exited the parking lot of the Montrose Crossing shopping center, the dye bag exploded, coloring spraying red paint all over Aylor’s hands and damaging his sweat shirt.
The taxi driver yelled at Aylor and kicked him out of the cab. Aylor rushed into several nearby stores, trying to find clothing and call a friend for help.
Somehow he was able to slip away before police arrived.
Surveillance cameras captured the robbery on video, and two fingerprints were recovered from the demand note. The prints matched his from the California job.
FBI agents tracked down Aylor in Ranson, W.Va., two days later. His right hand was still blistered and red from the exploding dye pack, and his cigarette lighter still had red dye on it.
Aylor admitted to the Rockville heist, saying he didn’t want to go into a homeless shelter and believed robbing banks was a way to get money without actually harming anyone.
Aylor made news in Los Angeles in 2005 after he attempted a similar robbery in Anaheim, near Angels Stadium. Bank security guards grabbed him while he tried to escape using a waiting taxicab.
