You’ve all seen it in the movies – the bad guy calls in a fake police call and robs a bank. All the police officers will be at the fake call and you can get away scot free, right? Not so fast, says Pleasant Prairie Police Chief David Smetana. “It doesn’t work.”

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Today, 51-year old former cop Paul J. Garchek was charged with armed bank robbery and a bomb threat, seemingly in a failed attempt to try the trick shown in TV and in the movies. He’s facing more that 40 years behind bars if convicted.

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According to the criminal complaint:

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An anonymous caller called the non-emergency line at the Pleasant Prairie Police Department at about 12:30 p.m. on April 6, 2024, stating there was a bomb at Costco. The person making the call did so from a blocked number. The male stated, “I heard there were 3 or 4 tanks like explosive bombs at Costco, 94th Ave., in Pleasant Prairie.” and then caller disconnected.

Members of the Pleasant Prairie Police department responded to Costco. A command post was set up next door to the Costco and officers began to check the perimeter of Costco and evacuate customers and employees from the building.

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Ultimately, no explosive devices were located. According to Costco, between the loss in revenue, employee payroll, and spoiled merchandise in the five hours the Costco had to be evacuated, Costco lost $327,038.

At about 1PM while he was assisting moving people to safe locations from the Costco dispatch advised that Chase Bank in Pleasant Prairie had just reported a robbery. Police, upon arriving on scene at the bank, made contact with an employee of the bank. She stated that around 12:55PM a thin white male, in his 40s, with blue eyes, wearing all black clothing, gloves, and prescription glasses with the sunglasses flipped up, walked up to the counter and spoke with Teller Robert Casey. The employee stated that she could not hear what was being said at first but then heard the male say, “Give me the fucking money! Hurry up,” and “Nobody move.” Nicole stated after the suspect left she followed him and saw him get into a Toyota 4-door that was a shiny charcoal color that had a bluish tint on the license plate so she thought it was an Illinois tag. She stated he left south on 39th Ave.

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The teller told police he gave the robber a stack of money but it had several one dollar bills on the top and the suspect began yelling that he wanted big bills. The teller stated that he grabbed more big bills, showed the suspect and the suspect continued to yell telling him to hurry up. The teller stated at this point the suspect put his right hand into his pocket and appeared to be gripping something that Robert believed to be a firearm. The teller stated he quickly put the money in the bag and the suspect then removed his hand from his pocket, zipped up the bag and walked outside before getting into the gray Toyota. Robert stated the suspect made off with $7,274 from the bank.

Police were quickly able to call AT&T and ascertain the even though the suspect dial *67 before the number to Costco, the number was still attainable. Records showed, he used a burner phone, but first used the burner phone to call his real phone to test the *67 feature.

Police narrowed down on Garchek and conducted a search warrant at his home. They found an airsoft gun. Garchek plead the fifth when questioned by police.

Reached by phone after today’s court hearing, Pleasant Prairie Police Chief David Smetana applauded his officers and detectives for their work. “There is so much technology out there these days to help us catch [the bad guys,] said Smetana. “Also, we capitalize on the mistakes that they make.”

Smetana recognized, that although many of his officers were at Costco, there were still other officers form many other agencies available. “Our officer can’t always be everywhere,” he said. Smetana warns that committing serious crimes, whether while being planned out or not, you will be caught.

Kenosha County Court Commissioner Bill Michel today set a cash bail of $250,000, citing the danger to the community. Garchek, a former police officer is a convicted felon who had drug convictions, and believe it or not, a conviction for armed robbery.

Garchek is due back in court on April 23, 2024 for a preliminary hearing.