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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...

DALLAS—Ronald Davison, 51, of Dallas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to serve 14 years in federal prison for robbing a Capital One Bank branch in Carrollton, Texas in 2007, announced James T. Jacks, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. In a plea agreement entered into with the government, Davison admitted that he robbed the Capital One Bank located at 2630 Old Denton Road in Carrollton on Monday, July 2, 2007. Davison was charged in a federal indictment returned by a grand jury on September 25, 2007, and was arrested shortly thereafter. According to...

TRENTON—The leader of a bank robbery gang whose spree included an attempted robbery during which an FBI Special Agent was tragically killed was sentenced today to more than 117 years in federal prison, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr., announced. U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson sentenced Francisco Herrera-Genao, 24, of New Brunswick to the mandatory minimum of 110 years in prison for convictions related to the carrying and, in three instances, firing of a weapon during the robberies. Judge Thompson also sentenced him to a consecutive 87-month term for conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and for four...