Free Republic

Male Suspect Wearing Muslim Garb Robs Philadelphia Bank PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia police are searching for a male suspect who robbed a bank while fully clothed in Muslim garb. The robbery happened at about 11 a.m. on April 13th at the Wells Fargo Bank branch located in the 700 block of Adams Avenue. According to investigators, the suspect, wearing Muslim garb, entered the bank and presented a threatening demand note to a teller. After getting an undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect ran out of the bank and fled north on Tabor Road. The suspect is described as a black...

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Two men charged with murder for a February bank attack that killed 38 people were executed Monday morning in Kabul, a spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence agency said. Lutfullah Mashal, spokesman for the National Directorate of Security, identified one of the men as Zar Ajam of Pakistan. He identified the other man as "Matiullah, whose real name was Mahmood," a resident of eastern Afghanistan. A third person involved in the attack has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, Mashal said.

Two men from Tarrant County who were suspects in an Oklahoma bank robbery were killed Thursday in a shootout at a roadblock on a southeast Oklahoma highway, authorities reported Friday. A woman from Euless was with the men as they tried to run through the roadblock about five miles west of Antlers, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The roadblock was set up after the First Bank and Trust in Wright City was robbed about 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Jeremy Dysart, 35, of North Richland Hills was pronounced dead at the scene, the agency said. Justin Whisenhunt, 31, of...

This is great - and one of the reasons I am proud to be an American. What a great soldier.

Alleged Bank Robber Takes Hostage - Shot By Police After Slipping And Falling On Ice Updated: Friday, 28 Jan 2011, 10:18 AM EST Published : Friday, 28 Jan 2011, 9:53 AM EST by MYFOXDC TAKOMA PARK, Md. - Dramatic video shows an alleged bank robber being taken down by police after slipping and falling on ice. WARNING – GRAPHIC VIDEO The incident happened at the Capital One Bank in Takoma Park, Md. around 9:00 a.m. on Friday. Police had the bank surrounded when the alleged robber came out of the front door with what looked like a gun to the...

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian investigators say that robbers carrying assault rifles in a baby carriage fatally shot two guards and a man walking his dog and got away with more than $800,000 worth of cash in St.Petersburg.

RICHMOND, VA—Eric Thompson, a/k/a Derick Cannon, 41, of Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced to 1,097 months’ imprisonment today in U.S. District Court for committing four armed robberies of commercial businesses located in the Richmond, Virginia area. He was also ordered to pay $1,359.37 in restitution. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after the defendant was sentenced by United States District Judge Liam O’Grady. According to the evidence presented at trial, Thompson committed four armed robberies of Family Dollar Store locations in Richmond, Virginia: * 3/9/2010 - Thompson robbed the Family Dollar store...

A California man accused of robbing banks and assembling what may be the largest cache of homemade explosives ever found in the U.S. was ordered held on $5 million bail Monday.

A bank robbery suspect was shot today in Everett after he lunged at an officer with a knife while fleeing the crime scene, a city official said.

The FBI Houston Bank Robbery Task Force is seeking to identify the man who robbed the Prosperity Bank at 8820 Westheimer in Houston yesterday afternoon. Tellers and customers alike must have known something was up when this master of disguise walked into the bank wearing a towel over his head, a baseball cap on top of the towel, and big dark sunglasses. At approximately 1:20 p.m., he approached the teller counter and produced a note demanding money. The teller complied with his demand and handed over the cash. Witnesses reported that the robber fled the bank on foot, and was...

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Montgomery County police said a man wearing a burqa robbed a bank in Silver Spring. Police said the man who robbed a TD Bank branch on Briggs Chaney Road about 4:20 p.m. Tuesday was wearing a "long black burqa over his face." He also wore jeans and tan boots. Authorities said the man showed a gun and demanded money. He took an undetermined amount of money and fled.

SNIPPET: "2. According to a criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of California, Naushad, together with co-defendants Tamim Abdul-Samad AKA Brandon Harris, and Darryl Eugene Peterson AKA Najm, robbed a CitiBank branch in La Mesa, California, on 19 April, 2010."

Here is video of a California man wrestling an armed robber to the ground in a bank there. Richard Camp was in the bank when the robber came in. He was initially thrown to the ground by the thief, who was armed with two guns and a knife. Camp later tackled the man and wrestled him to the ground where he held him under control, with the help of another man, until the bank security guard could be summoned from outside the bank where he was talking with someone. Camp was shot in the leg as he wrestled with the...

LONG BEACH, Calif. (CBS) A vehicle allegedly used by suspects in a Laguna Hills bank robbery Thursday was the subject of a freeway pursuit to Long Beach, where an officer-involved shooting occurred, authorities said. The chase began about 10:30 a.m. on the northbound 405 in Orange County, and went to the juncture of the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway, where the shooting happened, said California Highway Patrol Officer Gabe Montoya. It was not immediately clear if any suspects were injured, Montoya said. No officers were hurt, he said. After the shooting, the vehicle apparently continued northbound, possibly exiting around Woodruff...

DALLAS—The last sentencing in the “Scarecrow Bandit” case was held today when U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle sentenced one of the group’s leaders, Tony R. Hewitt, 43, a.k.a. “Priceless T,” to serve 355 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. The Scarecrow Bandits committed a series of violent “takeover” style bank robberies in the Dallas area between January and June 2008. The group’s other leader, Corey Deyon Duffey, a.k.a. “Kenyo,” a.k.a. “Calvin Brown,” 29, was sentenced in January 2010 to 354 years in prison. Charles Runnels, a.k.a. “Junior,” 43, was...

Robert E. Casey Jr., Special Agent In Charge, Dallas, FBI, announced that a reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person known as the “Reckless Robber,” who is responsible for the May 5, 2010, robbery of the Wells Fargo Bank located at 13297 Josey Lane, Farmers Branch, Texas. Wells Fargo Bank announced they were increasing the reward for the Reckless Robber to $ 20,000 for information leading to his the arrest and conviction. The Reckless Robber began his streak of bank robberies on October 8, 2008 at a Compass Bank in Houston, Texas....

PALM BAY, Fla. -- A local bank customer was hailed as a hero Thursday night for taking down a man who said he was down on his luck and he decided to commit a robbery. Floyd Francis gave up instantly, police said, and he was taken to the Brevard County Jail. "I drew my gun on him and put him down," Ruben Torres said. In a hand-written confession, Francis said he tried to rob the Space Coast Credit Union in Palm Bay because he needed money. He wrote, "I make music for a living, but tings not working out right...

Two women are dead following a fatal crash when Albuquerque police pursued a suspected bank robber late Tuesday morning. According to police, officers spotted the suspect’s vehicle leaving the bank at Louisiana and Candelaria and followed it without initially initiating pursuit. They later did pursue the car along Interstate 40 to the city’s West Side where the suspect, identified as 31-year-old Jeremiah Jackson of Albuquerque, eventually ran head-on into an oncoming car while he was driving the wrong way on Ouray near Coors. Two women in the car, Kimberly Aragon-Nunez, 34, and Janice Flores, 28, both from Albuquerque, died from...

Burglars tunnelled into a Parisian bank vault and raided around 100 safety deposit boxes rented by private customers before making good their escape, investigators have said. Police said identifying and putting a value on what was missing would be a long and difficult task, and that the gang appeared to have been equipped with sophisticated tools for what was otherwise a very traditional robbery. They bust into the Credit Lyonnais (LCL) branch on Avenue de l'Opera, between the Louvre and the old Opera house in the heart of tourist Paris, late Saturday night local time by passing through ventilation pipes...

Minneapolis police officer Timothy Edward Carson's shift on Wednesday started at 9 a.m. But he wasn't there. By the time he told a supervisor he was running late at 9:30, the FBI says, Carson had robbed an Apple Valley bank and was well on his way to getting caught. Carson, 28, was arrested early Thursday and appeared in federal court Thursday afternoon, charged with bank robbery. More criminal charges are expected to follow; police sources familiar with the investigation say he could be connected to at least a dozen robberies in the metro area over the past two weeks. "The...

Police say a man who appeared in a Discovery Channel reality show about crab fishing off Alaska is wanted for three bank robberies and has been arrested. Police in Illinois say they arrested 23-year-old Joshua Tel Warner early on Thursday on the Oregon bank robbery warrant after a vehicle he was riding in was pulled over for a routine traffic stop. He was being held on $US30,000 ($A33,598) bail in the Tazewell County Jail. Police in Oregon say he is the same Josh Warner who appeared as a greenhorn deckhand on the king crab fishing boat Wizard in the show...

The FBI and local law enforcement agencies are seeking the public’s assistance to identify an unknown male bank robber who has been named the “Geezer Bandit.” The “Geezer Bandit” is believed responsible for robbing five banks in San Diego County. Three different rewards, totaling $16,000 are being offered for information leading the arrest and conviction of the “Geezer Bandit.” The most recent robbery in this series is believed to have occurred yesterday, Monday, November 16, 2009, with the robbery of the Bank of America, located at 7680 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, California. On Monday, November 16, 2009, at approximately 5:57...

LAS VEGAS—The FBI and the Henderson Police Department have arrested five persons following an attempted robbery of a Henderson bank. Last Friday, November 13, 2009, five persons entered the Wells Fargo Bank at 1411 West Sunset Road and presented a false federal search warrant to the bank manager demanding all the money in the bank’s vault. When the bank manager refused to comply with the false search warrant, he was handcuffed and threatened. The five persons were placed under arrest by Officers of the Henderson Police Department as they left the bank, and were later taken into custody by the...

PHOENIX—Two of the so-called “Wig Bandits,” bank robbers who donned wigs during the commission of armed bank robberies, have been sentenced to federal prison by U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell. Andrei Ulisses Chavez, 25, and Francisco Javier Serrano, 23, both Mexican citizens living in Phoenix, each pleaded guilty in June 2009, to one count of Armed Bank Robbery and one count of Use of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence. Serrano was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in federal prison. Chavez was sentenced in September 2009 to 18 years in federal prison. Four co-defendants are pending sentencing after...

... Wilson, 69, is accused of walking into the Bank of America branch in the 4100 block of El Cajon Boulevard in City Heights and handing a bank manager a demand note, saying he had a bomb. Prosecutors said he made off with $107,000 before he was caught lying on a front porch near the bank.

KTLA News 5:55 PM PDT, September 12, 2009 LA JOLLA -- A well-dressed elderly man carrying an inhaler or oxygen tank robbed a bank in La Jolla Satruday, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation officials. The man presented a note to a teller at the San Diego National Bank and made off with an unknown amount of cash. It's unclear whether the suspect had a weapon. The robber is described as a 6 foot, 4 inch tall man in his 70s with white hair, a gray mustache and glasses. Bank Tellers say the white-haired man was wearing glasses and had...

LANCASTER, Pa. - A Pennsylvania man said he robbed a bank in 2007 to go to jail and get away from his overbearing wife. At a sentencing hearing Monday, 39-year-old Anthony Miller said he robbed a bank in Ephrata because he wanted to leave his then-wife but she had threatened to commit suicide if he did. Defense attorney Robert Beyer said Miller approached tellers with a BB gun, asked for money and told them to call the police. He said Miller even asked for updates on their efforts to reach authorities. Miller pleaded guilty in June. Lancaster County Judge Louis...

A man with a lengthy criminal record that includes two prior convictions for bank robberies has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for committing a series of bank robberies that earned him the moniker the “Goofy Hat Bandit.” William Vance Turner, 58, who was residing in Ladera Heights when he was arrested by the FBI in 2007, was sentenced late Monday by United States District Judge Margaret M. Morrow. Last November, on the morning he was set to go on trial, Turner pleaded guilty to committing six bank robberies in 2006 and 2007. The robberies took place in...

CAMDEN, NJA—Jersey City man was sentenced to 144 months in prison today for robbing or attempting to rob nine banks in New Jersey and Connecticut over a five-month period in 2008 and getting away with more than $39,000, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr., announced. U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle also ordered Huy Trong Luong, 41, to pay restitution of $39,067 and to serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison term. On Mar. 31, 2009, Luong specifically pleaded guilty to two counts of bank robbery associated with the April 20, 2008, robbery of...

SEATTLE – A Seattle bank teller has lost his job because he ran down a would-be bank robber and held him until police arrived. Jim Nicholson, 30, who had worked for more than two years at a Key Bank branch near the Seattle Center, says he understands the bank's strict policy that employees comply with robbery demands and avoid confrontations. But he told The Seattle Times that instinct took over when a thin man in a beanie cap, dark clothing and sunglasses pushed a black backpack across the bank counter on Tuesday and demanded money. Nicholson threw the bag to...

Jim Nicholson knew he should have just handed over the cash. But when the thin man in a beanie cap, dark clothing and sunglasses pushed a black backpack across the bank counter and demanded money, Nicholson says his instincts took over. After more than two years working as a teller at the Key Bank branch in Lower Queen Anne, Nicholson clearly understood the bank's strict policy of quickly complying with robbers' demands and avoiding confrontation. Instead, Nicholson threw the bag to the floor, lunged toward the robber and demanded to see a weapon. Surprised, the would-be bank robber backed up...

SEATTLE – A Seattle bank teller has lost his job because he ran down a would-be bank robber and held him until police arrived. Jim Nicholson, 30, who had worked for more than two years at a Key Bank branch near the Seattle Center, says he understands the bank's strict policy that employees comply with robbery demands and avoid confrontations. But he told The Seattle Times that instinct took over when a thin man in a beanie cap, dark clothing and sunglasses pushed a black backpack across the bank counter on Tuesday and demanded money. Nicholson threw the bag to...

SEATTLE — A Seattle bank teller has lost his job because he ran down a would-be bank robber and held him until police arrived. Jim Nicholson, who worked at a Key Bank branch, says he understands the bank's policy that employees comply with robbery demands and avoid dangerous confrontations. But he tells The Seattle Times that his instincts took over when the man demanded money during the Tuesday incident. Nicholson says he tried to grab the man, then chased him several blocks before knocking him down with help from a passer-by. The man turned out to be unarmed. The 30-year-old...

BAGHDAD — Gunmen killed eight security guards and made off with nearly $7 million Tuesday during an early morning robbery at a bank in central Baghdad that police say is the work of insurgents attempting to finance their operations. It is the second deadly robbery in a week in Baghdad's commercial Karradah district. Although violence has dropped dramatically over the past two years, the number of robberies in Iraq appears to be on the rise. A special committee made up of Iraqi army, police and bank officials was formed to investigate the robbery, which netted 8 billion Iraqi Dinars ($6.9...

Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Gregory Jones, FBI Atlanta, in conjunction with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office, and the Darien, Georgia Police Department, provides the following information regarding yesterday’s armed bank robbery at the Heritage Bank, 1142 Highway 17 North, Darien, Georgia. On Monday, July 20, 2009, at approximately 12:24 p.m., three black males entered the Heritage Bank, 1142 Highway 17 North, Darien, Georgia, brandishing a .30 cal. carbine rifle, a handgun, and possibly a shotgun. The robbers forced those in the bank to get down on the floor. Two of the robbers then...

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. – A man insisted on being arrested after he walked into a western North Carolina bank while on the phone with a 911 operator to report that he planned to commit a robbery. The Asheville Citizen-Times reported the man insisted on being arrested after an officer walked in behind him Wednesday at the Wachovia bank branch in Waynesville...

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—Today, BRYAN ROSS BENTON, 24, and TYSON CHARLES MARTIN, 20, both of Stillwater, Oklahoma, have each been sentenced to ten months in federal prison for stealing money from a City National Bank branch in the Country Mart East Supermarket at 4510 Southeast Lee Boulevard in Lawton, announced John C. Richter, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. BENTON was sentenced on June 17; MARTIN was sentenced this morning. On May 27, 2009, a third defendant, TODD VINCENT RUDISILL, 22, of Lawton, was sentenced to 27 months in prison in connection with the theft and his embezzlement...

CAMDEN, NJ—A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 137 months in federal prison today for committing two banks robberies in New Jersey and one bank robbery in Pennsylvania, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr. announced. U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle also ordered Frank George Czerwinski, Jr., 45, formerly of Easton, Pa., to pay $14,640 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison sentence. Czerwinski has been in federal custody since his arrest on Oct. 13, 2007, at the Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Ledyard, Conn., by Connecticut State Police. Czerwinski pleaded...

BIRMINGHAM, AL—United States District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Qunitus Montea Woods, on June 24, 2009, to 189 months in federal prison. Woods, 32, of Birmingham, Alabama, was previously indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple counts of bank robbery, armed bank robbery, use of a firearm during an armed bank robbery, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pled guilty to these charges on March 26, 2009. Following his release from prison, Woods will be placed on supervised release for a period of five years. He has been ordered to make restitution to Compass...

SAN FRANCISCO—Just under four months after pleading guilty to armed bank robbery of the Pacific Postal Credit Union in San Francisco, Sefo Sagote was sentenced to 11 years and one month in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced. Sagote, 27, pleaded guilty on February 26. He was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel. Judge Patel also ordered Sagote to pay $79,765 in restitution to the credit union. Co-defendant Elisara Taito was sentenced in March to 78 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Co-defendant...

The FBI Houston Bank Robbery Task Force is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying two men who robbed the Woodforest Bank at 11242 South Gessner in Houston yesterday. At approximately 9:30 a.m., the two men entered the bank and approached the teller counter carrying deposit slips as if they were going to make a transaction. Suspect number one then pulled out a semi-automatic pistol and demanded cash from the teller. Fearing for her life the teller complied, and the two robbers left the bank on foot. Suspect number one is described as a black male, 30-35 years old, 6’00” tall,...

PHOENIX—Several Phoenix area bank robbers, previously arrested and charged, were indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury. Three indictments were handed down by the grand jury in three cases: Blair John Daehling and Brandy Heidrick-Daehling (aka “The Bad Hair Day Bandit”); two Valley men who used hoax bombs in their robberies- Karl Cascketta and Stephen Raboy; and Robert Nejbauer, Jr., who was indicted for robbing or attempting to rob banks in the Phoenix area and calling in a bomb threat to a local high school. Blair John Daehling, 38, and his wife, Brandy Heidrick-Daehling, 32, were arrested on Monday, May...

GREENBELT, MD—U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Derrick Aylor, age 26, of Derwood, Maryland, today to 83 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for two counts of bank robbery and for violating his supervised release on a previous bank robbery conviction, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Messitte also ordered Aylor to pay restitution of $2,230. According to his guilty plea, on April 21, 2008, Derrick Aylor robbed a BB&T Bank branch located at 16541 River Ridge Boulevard, Woodbridge, Virginia, handing the teller a note stating, “This is...

ALLENTOWN, PA—John Douglas Parker, 47, of New York, New York, was sentenced today to 228 months in prison for the knife-point armed robberies of the Susquehanna Bank in Allentown, Pennsylvania and the PNC Bank in Easton, Pennsylvania in 2008, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy. Parker was indicted in September 2008 and pleaded guilty the following December. During the robberies, Parker used demand notes, in which he threatened the lives of the tellers, and also claimed to have a gun. In the May 24, 2008 robbery of the Susquehanna Bank, Parker stole $1,859. In the June 5, 2008 robbery...

TRENTON – A Brick man pleaded guilty today to committing a series of six bank robberies on consecutive Thursdays in Ocean, Middlesex and Monmouth counties, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr. announced. Peter A. Bielecke, 41, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano, to one count of bank robbery. Judge Pisano continued the defendant’s detention and scheduled sentencing for Aug. 25. Bielecke has been held in either state or federal custody since his arrest on March 5, 2009. At his plea hearing, Bielecke admitted that he used force and intimidation in committing the following robberies: * Jan....

Two Conspirators In St. Mary’s County Bank Robbery Sentenced to Prison Bank Manager and Her Two Minor Children Kidnapped Greenbelt, MD—U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Quinita Jessie Ennis, age 31, of Lexington Park, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, armed bank robbery and making a false statement in the purchase of a gun in connection with the September 24, 2008 robbery of $169,900 from a bank in St. Mary’s County in which the bank manager and her two minor children were kidnapped from...

The FBI is requesting the public’s assistance in identifying and apprehending a man thought to be responsible for at least 19 armed bank robberies over a two-year period in Tallahassee, Perry, and Lake City, Florida, as well as the Dothan, Alabama, area, and several locations in the southern part of South Carolina, according to James Casey, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Jacksonville Division. The subject is described as a white male between the ages of 30 and 50, 5'8" to 6'0" tall, weighing between 190 and 250 pounds and having strawberry blond or red hairThe subject has freckles...

At approximately 10:22 this morning the Bank of Albuquerque Eastdale branch located within the Albertson’s grocery store at Eubank and Candelaria was robbed by a lone male robber. The robber is described as an Hispanic male, between 5’4 and 5’7", 280 – 300 pounds, wearing a blue ball cap, sunglasses, and a dark colored shirt. He fled on foot. The robber approached the teller under the guise of opening a new account and then made a verbal demand for money. No weapon was displayed and no one was hurt. The robber made off with an undisclosed sum of money. Albuquerque...

PHOENIX—A Phoenix area bank robber, known by authorities as the “Bad Hair Day Bandit,” and his co-defendant, his wife, are in federal custody due to the vigilance of a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Reserve Deputy and the quick action of the Scottsdale Police Department. Blair John Daehling, 38, and his wife, Brandy Heidrick-Daehling, 32, were arrested on Monday, May 11, 2009 after robbing a bank on east Camelback Road in Scottsdale, Ariz. According to the criminal complaint filed today in federal court, the pair have also been charged for their roles in other bank robberies committed throughout April and May 2009...

NEWARK, NJ—Special Agent In Charge Weysan Dun is asking for the help of the public in identifying a bank robber who struck yesterday at Sun National Bank, 411 Route 33, Hamilton, New Jersey at approximately 9:42 a.m. The robber calmly walked up to the teller window and handed the teller a note that was attached to a deposit ticket. Although the note threatened that people would die if the robber did not get the money he demanded, no weapon was mentioned. He fled with an undisclosed amount of money and may have escaped in a silver SUV. The robber is...