Police Mock Bank Robbery Suspect For Doing TV Interview

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — If you're going to rob banks, Lawrenceville Police say, here's a word of advice — don't go on television and give an interview between jobs.

That's exactly what happened, police say, when an Atlanta news crew doing a report on traffic in Lawrenceville approached an alleged bank robber for his thoughts.

Eric Rivers is charged with robbing several banks in Gwinnett County over the past few weeks. Police say they got a break in the case when they saw Rivers on CBS 46. A reporter at the station had approached Rivers at a shopping center near Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road and Duluth Highway to talk about the busy intersection.

According to the station, police told them the interview helped identify a suspect they'd been looking for. They say Rivers, who gave his real name for the interview, robbed a Chase Bank on Collins Hill Road before the interview and went into a nearby Fidelity Bank shortly afterward.

On Facebook, the police department couldn't resist having a little bit of fun with their lucky break.

"When after having robbed several banks and you are at another bank casing the place for an additional robbery and are approached by a news crew in the parking lot ... DO NOT stop and agree to an interview with said news crew," the department wrote.

"The news anchor might be pretty, but fight the urge and keep walking. You see, when you accept an interview and provide them with your real name it actually makes our job too easy. We will find you anyway, but we do like a little more difficult investigation on occasion. "

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