John McLean- Virginia- 2006

(Above photo credit: amw.com archives)

John McLean is wanted for a string of burglaries at George Mason University in Virginia in 2006. He was profiled on AMW back when he was only an unknown bandit, although he has only been on their website after his identity was revealed. Here is the archived description for the case:

GMU Campus Struck By Thieves

Cops say on the night of February 12, 2006, three young bandits crept into Innovation Hall, a technology building on the George Mason University campus, carrying a master key and a bag of tools. Cops say the bandits worked their way through the building floor by floor, stealing nearly one hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment. Among the most valuable equipment stolen were six overhead projectors -- worth $7,800 each.

The next day, professors and students arrived at Innovation Hall to find their classrooms in disarray. They noticed equipment was missing, and things were clearly out of place -- but no one realized the extent to which the school had been robbed overnight, until police began their investigation.

Bandits Overlook New Security Cameras

GMU Police quickly realized they had some amazing clues -- thanks to surveillance cameras throughout the building. Cops say the bandits, extremely professional in their planning, had come a month or so in advance of the robberies to case the building. They'd noted each and every existing surveillance camera during their reconnaissance, and during the actual heist, they either disabled them or turned them toward the wall to remain unseen.

What the thieves didn't know, however, was that GMU had installed new cameras in Innovation Hall just two weeks before the robbery. The bandits had no idea the new cameras were working and recording their every move.

But investigators weren't discouraged -- and soon found themselves dealing with an interesting new lead.

A String Of Robberies

Cops say the way the bandits robbed the school building is a major clue in and of itself. According to police, it was almost as if the trio had a "shopping list" of items to steal. They knew exactly what they were after, and carried very specific tools to help them get those items. In one computer lab, the bandits bypassed a room full of Dell computers and went straight for overhead projectors. It seemed the bandits were targeting specific equipment for a reason.

At first, police thought the thieves were probably students. But after hanging posters with the bandits' faces around the school, they received very little information -- and cops started thinking the bandits had no connection to the school or area.

But investigators weren't discouraged -- and soon found themselves dealing with an interesting new lead.

Other schools had experienced similar thefts, such as George Washington University, American University, Michigan State, and Harvard. When GMU detectives started looking into the details of those thefts, they realized there could be a connection to something much larger -- the Russian Mafia.

Some of the equipment stolen from another University that had been hit showed up in a Baltimore pawn shop believed to be a front for the Russian Mob. Although none of the goods stolen from GMU have turned up in those pawn shops, police are not ruling out the possibility that the thefts might be linked to organized crime.

Two Out Of Three Behind Bars

Police were soon able to link the robbery at GMU to a similar robbery at the College of William and Mary. They tracked the items stolen from that campus to a pawn shop in Baltimore. The store owner said that a man by the name of Adam Godfrey came into the store and claimed to be selling the equipment for his boss, and asked that the check be made out to his boss' name. The police were able to find the man who the check was made out to, and he quickly pointed them in the direction of the person he cashed it for.

This led police to Curtis White, the man who had claimed to be named Adam Godfrey. It turned out that Curtis White had been arrested before, while enrolled in classes in Maine. This led police to look for more similar robberies, and they discovered even more at campuses along the East Coast.

The arrest of Curtis White led police to Jason Cutler, who they arrested and believe to be the second person in the surveillance video at GMU. Police have identified the third person in the video as John McLean. He is accused of participating in multiple robberies and stealing equipment with the intent to sell it. Police believe that he may have fled the country and be hiding somewhere in England or Scotland.



Thoughts? For those of you thinking of Die Hard, Bruce Willis's character is named John McClane, although I do love the irony.

In any case, the archive no longer works to give details such as height, weight, etc., although McLean looked relatively young in his 2006 archive picture. The real question is if whatever country he's in is doing anything to locate him.

UPDATE: I could not find any new articles online about McLean in the past few years. As far as I can tell, he is still at large as of this update (7/21/2018) since I haven't found anything online suggesting otherwise. However, if anyone has any updates/proof-of-updates one way or the other, they are always more than welcome to let us know.

Admin Note #1: Based on wanted location, our advice for anyone with information on John McLean's whereabouts is to contact Fairfax County Crime Solvers: www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org/

Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form


web.archive.org/web/20071021102545/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=49957

www.inarchive.com/com/a/amw.com/7941/2011-11-21-description/725/AMW_Report_a_Tip_Michael_Mazza/

crimeshots.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7323