Samuel Lewis

When I was a wee undergraduate student, I took a course on criminology. Manned by a detective from the Pittsburgh Police Department who was obviously not too interested in debating the law, merely making sure we knew it, the course was, admittedly, a cheap GPA boost. But there were times when this detective would go off the rails. One day, he was talking to the class about theft. Specifically, he told us, the biggest mistake that offenders who rob a store or a bank make is that they usually come back to the same places, instead of just taking their one hit and being on their way out of the jurisdiction.

It sounds as if Samuel Lewis could have used that knowledge.

Lewis was arrested at his Beltsville home by Montgomery County Police on Friday, and subsequently charged with seven bank robberies around the county — though, police note, he is suspected of having committed several others in Arlington and Alexandria. Lewis was only outed, however, after someone called the cops and ratted him out — so it doesn’t sound like he had a personal reason to stick around town.

Lewis will appear in a Rockville court today; he’s currently being held on $1 million bond.