WASHINGTON — A bank robbery Tuesday afternoon was followed by a quick arrest, a dramatic escape and a second capture.
It unfolded in McLean shortly before 5 p.m., when a gunman held up the PNC Bank on Old Dominion Drive.
Fairfax County police said that Hao The Dinh, 25, flashed a gun, grabbed cash and fled the bank in a gray pickup truck.
But just 11 minutes later, patrol officers caught up with the Manassas man at Anderson Drive and Dolley Madison Boulevard in McLean. Within minutes of the holdup, police had Dinh in handcuffs and tucked in the back of a police cruiser.
But not for long.
When they arrived at police headquarters, Dinh evoked the memory of the great escape artist Harry Houdini. He slipped out of the handcuffs, stuck his hand out the partially opened rear window, opened the door and ran off, with police chasing him.
He bolted across Chain Bridge Road, where, police said, he then threatened to hijack a delivery truck before he was recaptured.
Dinh is being held without bond on charges that include robbery, carjacking and possession of a firearm by a felon.
