Original Blog Entry: Bank Robber Who Tried To Escape by Bus Pleads Guilty

truesee — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:36:30 GMT

Bank robber who tried to flee by bus pleads guilty

Mara H. Gottfried

Pioneer Press

Posted 03/12/2009 12:01:00 AM CDT

A man who was caught after trying to escape on a Metro Transit bus pleaded guilty in federal court today to robbing a St. Paul bank twice.

Shane Nathaniel Townsend, 37, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery.

Townsend admitted to stealing $3,065 from the TCF Bank at 459 N. Lexington Parkway on Dec. 5, 2007 and $450 from the same bank on Dec. 11, 2007, according to his plea agreement.

During the Dec. 11 robbery, a man gave a teller a note at about 2:30 p.m. that said, Give me big bills, according to an FBI affidavit. The teller gave the man cash and he left the bank.

The teller saw the robber walk north toward University Avenue and try to hail a public bus that was headed east on University Avenue. The bus went past the man, who then jogged east across the street.

St. Paul police stopped a bus on University Avenue at Chatsworth Street. As officers went in the front of the bus, a man matching the robber's description went out the bus' back door and tried to flee. He was caught, but resisted arrest and police used a Taser on him.

Officers found a demand note and $450 on the man, identified as Townsend, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota.

Townsend hasn't been sentenced, but faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

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