Hollywood heist: Three men 'dressed up in Halloween masks to rob bank after watching hit movie The Town'

By PAUL THOMPSON FOR MAILONLINE
Updated: 16:57 EST, 6 January 2011

Three suspected bank robbers have told the FBI they staged an armed hold up after watching the hit Hollywood film The Town.

The alleged robbers told FBI agents they got the idea for the robbery from the film, which stars Ben Affleck as a bank robber.

They are alleged to have copied the fictional robbers by wearing Halloween masks.

The three suspected bank robbers claim to have been inspired by Hollywood bank heist film The Town

In last year's highly acclaimed film set in Boston, Affleck leads a team of robbers who wear masks and are dressed as nuns while they stage an armed hold-up.

According to court records, Lee Lubin told FBI agents that he got the idea to rob the bank after watching the film.

Together with accomplices Eddie Solomon and Kay Dauphin, he is alleged to have burst into a Bank of America branch in Delray Beach, Florida.

Customers were ordered on the floor at gunpoint as the robbers fled with $67,000 to a waiting getaway car.

A scene from The Town in which Affleck leads a team of robbers who wear masks and dress up as nuns while they stage an armed hold-up

With TV news helicopters and police following, the three suspects weaved through lunchtime traffic.

An assault-type rifle used in the robbery was tossed out of the window before the three abandoned their car in a residential area and tried to flee on foot.

Lamont, 27, and Dauphin, 28, were arrested quickly while Lubin was caught two hours later.

Alleged robber Lee Lubin told FBI agents that he got the idea to rob a bank after watching Affleck (pictured) in action

Dauphin said Lubin, his cousin, had called him to ask if he wanted to make some money and he figured they were going to commit a robbery, according to federal court records.

Lubin also talked to authorities, saying he got the idea to rob the bank from The Town.

FBI spokesman Special Agent Michael Leverock declined to discuss what type of masks the suspects were wearing.

All three are being held on armed robbery charges after Tuesday's failed heist.