Police: Man Uses Cardboard Gun in Robbery (AP)

SHREVEPORT, La. - A man who used a cardboard gun to rob a bank apparently wasn't paying much attention when he cased the building earlier and failed to notice it was across the street from an office used by Caddo Parish sheriff's detectives.

Employees told authorities they had seen the man hanging around the business earlier in the day, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Chadwick said. He showed up again later Thursday, wearing a bandana and brandishing what looked like a gun.

"He demanded an undisclosed amount of money from the teller" then took off on foot, Chadwick said.

Deputies immediately responded along with detectives from across the street. Together, they began blocking off driveways and setting up a perimeter around the area.

Det. Stacy Cowgill saw the suspect crossing the road, trying to stay in the woods. Cowgill chased the man and arrested him without incident eight minutes after deputies were dispatched.

"He had the money in his front pocket," Cowgill said. "He told us when I got him the gun was made out of cardboard."

A short time later, deputies found two rolls of paper taped together to resemble a gun.

Ricky Lawrence Banks was booked into Caddo Correctional Center on a charge of first-degree robbery.

"You can't be very bright and rob a bank right across the street from a detective office," Cowgill said.