Brazen Robber Threatens Bank, Schools

Here’s the News Channel 10′s Video of it.

by C.F. David

It was about 10:45 a.m. on Friday morning when as yet unidentified man, estimated to be in his early 30s handed a teller at The First State Bank of Boise City a note demanding money.

The note, as of yet unreleased, purportedly threatened to set off bombs in the bank and the Boise City Elementary and High Schools if the teller didn’t empty her money drawer. The teller complied and the man, visible on security cameras exited the bank.

He is then thought to have climbed into either a cream or off-white mini-van or small SUV, perhaps with Louisiana tags. The vehicle was driven away by a woman in her 30s reportedly wearing a pink blouse.

The direction of travel was thought to be east on Highway 412/3 toward Guymon. However, if the duo drove east they could have turned toward Stratford or angled toward Elkhart as well as traveled to Guymon. As of Saturday morning the area of search had been widened to a 500 mile radius.

Before leaving the bank he left what could have been an explosive device. The bank was evacuated.In reaction to the multiple threats the Boise City schools were also quickly evacuated, and the students taken to two safe locations; school was later dismissed. The schools in Felt were also reportedly evacuated and the Keyes school went into a lockdown mode.

Police Chief Dale Harper, Under Sheriff Derek Kincannon, and Patrolman Tonya Hicks quickly threw up crime scene tape around the building.

Harper then contacted OSBI Agent Morgan Wilkinson and calls also went out to the FBI in Woodward and Oklahoma City.

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Squad flew from Oklahoma City, and one trooper suited up and made multiple entries into the bank before making the decision that the device was not an explosive.

The two Boise City Schools were also cleared of explosives using bomb-sniffing dogs.

The robbery is similar to one executed in Noble, just south of Norman earlier this month. That robbery is also under investigation by the FBI and the couple is suspected of committing both robberies.

FBI News Release

For Immediate Release
February 26, 2010 FBI Oklahoma City
Contact: Special Agent Gary Johnson
(405) 290-3678

Robbery of First State Bank Branch in Boise City

Below are several photographs taken from today’s robbery of First State Bank, 20 Southwest Square, Boise City, Oklahoma.

At approximately 10:36 a.m. this morning, a white male entered the bank and provided a demand note to a teller. The robber said there was a bomb at a local school, and he set a device he described as a bomb on the teller counter. It was later proven to be a hoax device. There was nothing found at the school.

The robber gathered the money and fled with a white female in a white minivan or SUV. They were believed to have traveled east on Highway 412 from Boise City. No one was injured and no explosive devices were located. The same individual is believed responsible for the February 12, 2010, robbery of First Fidelity Bank, 900 N. Main Street, Noble, Oklahoma. In the February 12 robbery, the suspect was seen driving a maroon four-door car.

The individual who entered the bank was described as a white male, shoulder length brown hair, 5’9″, 170 lbs., in his mid 30′s, wearing a Aussie style hat with a leather band, a hip length black leather coat, a purplish-colored collared shirt, blue jeans, and black cowboy boots.

The female who remained in the car was described as a white female, heavy set, in her early 30′s, shoulder length light brown hair, who was wearing a pink shirt.

The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, Boise City Police Department, Cimmaron County Sheriff’s Office, the District 1 District Attorney’s Task Force, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The FBI’s bomb technician was also on the scene to examine the device left at the bank.

If anyone has any information, please contact the FBI at (405) 290-7770 (24-hour number). A reward of up to $2000 is being offered by the Oklahoma Bankers Association.