# New York Robbers Unmasked by Grateful Note for Their Disguise



## Frightmaster-General (Sep 9, 2011)

What could have been the perfect crime was undone when the identity of the alleged robbers was unmasked by a grateful note thanking a company for the disguise.

Police arrested Edward Byam, 24, and Akeem Monsalvatge, 37, on Monday and charged them with wearing realistic Hollywood-style masks and dressed as New York City detectives to knock over a Pay-O-Matic check cashing facility on Valentine's Day in Queens, N.Y.

The suspects, wearing NYPD badges and jackets, baseball caps, and dark sunglasses threatened a clerk by showing her photographs of her home and made off with nearly $200,000, police said.

For months cops thought they were looking for two white suspects, when the investigation received an important tip.

One suspect bore a striking similarity to "Mac the Guy," a silicon mask manufactured by movie-makeup company CFX Composite Effects.
When investigators contacted the company, they were told Byam had recently emailed the firm in thanks for the mask.

"I'm sending this message to say I'm extremely pleased by CFX work on the mask," Byam allegedly wrote the company, as first reported by the New York Post and confirmed by the NYPD and the company. "The realism of the mask is unbelievable."

Byam and Monsalvatge are black.

According to the company's website "Mac is designed for ultimate human realism." The company sells the silicon mask starting at $569, but it can be customized with fake hair, including the goatee the thieves allegedly used.

Byam had made another critical blunder, police said.

Cops traced the photo of the clerk's home, which was left at the scene of the crime, to a Walgreen's pharmacy where the print was made. The store was able to link a receipt for the prints to Byam's phone number, cops confirmed.

The two men were charged Wednesday with robbery and impersonating an officer and were ordered held without bond. It was unclear whether they had obtained attorneys.

Criminals have increasingly turned to realistic masks in committing crimes.
In 2010, Canadian officials called the use of a mask an "unbelievable case of concealment" when a young Asian man tried entering the country illegally disguised as an elderly white man.

Story: ABC News
By Russell Goldman


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

I saw this today. Also, the traffic to the CFX mask site was up 10 fold and actually crashed the site as it couldn't handle it on. The CFX team has been working around the clock to fix the site and keep it going. Luckily the production is no part of the online technical team, because it is still going just fine which means hopefully, I will have my mask by the 2nd week of October. 

Mask number one is being delivered today.


Oh oh oh, side note. If you see a report in Olmsted Falls of Freddy Kruger robbing a store, you know where to look. At least until October, then it will be Beetlejuice robbing said store haha


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Just goes to show - crooks are dumb


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## HalloweenRick (Nov 25, 2005)

You've got to admit- what a great mask and what a great idea!


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

The article was a bit misleading and CFX had to clarify what all took place. The Robbers got traced to their home through Walgreens and the photos they took of the cashiers home they used to threaten her with and left behind. Someone recognized the mask from CFX and tipped off the cops that the assailants most likely did not look like the video in real life due to a mask. CFX was then given a subpena for any information that had taken place back and forth between the accused and them, which included the thank you email on realism. They clarified they don't just give information out on customers at will, but if served a notice they have to comply with law enforcement. I would say that 90 percent of the people who order from CFX write them a thank you for the mask and the care the company took along the way during the transaction. Shoot, I plan to write one myself tonight after I pick up my mask at UPS..... grr.. UPS man. You are on my hit list haha


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

No wonder TSA bends people over and snaps the glove.


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## Acid PopTart (Oct 29, 2007)

Spiderclimber said:


> I saw this today. Also, the traffic to the CFX mask site was up 10 fold and actually crashed the site as it couldn't handle it on. The CFX team has been working around the clock to fix the site and keep it going. Luckily the production is no part of the online technical team, because it is still going just fine which means hopefully, I will have my mask by the 2nd week of October.
> 
> Mask number one is being delivered today.
> 
> Oh oh oh, side note. If you see a report in Olmsted Falls of Freddy Kruger robbing a store, you know where to look. At least until October, then it will be Beetlejuice robbing said store haha


Hahahaha! Fantastic!


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## N. Fantom (Sep 8, 2011)

If i were them, i would of made custom prosthetic pieces instead of ordering a mask.


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

N. Fantom said:


> If i were them, i would of made custom prosthetic pieces instead of ordering a mask.


If I were them, I wouldn't have robbed a bank in the first place. I live by the theory, you're going to get caught. You cheat, you lie, you steal, you're going to get caught. Period.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

I wonder if at some point, someplace will try to ban the sale of masks that are too realistic?


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## N. Fantom (Sep 8, 2011)

Spooky1 said:


> I wonder if at some point, someplace will try to ban the sale of masks that are too realistic?


It seems that the government controls everything else in New York (at least in the city), so why not masks?


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

Spooky1 said:


> I wonder if at some point, someplace will try to ban the sale of masks that are too realistic?


Similar to toy guns that used to look real? Now they're goofy looking with bright orange muzzles on them.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

Next they will outlaw facepaint, ski masks, big sunglasses, and gloves. Where does it stop?


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