A St. Paul man was sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison Wednesday for the armed robbery of the Park Midway Bank on Como Avenue in St. Paul last summer.
15-year prison term for bank robber who crashed borrowed van
Robber who used borrowed minivan to rob St. Paul bank was later found with cash at a crash.
March 31, 2011 at 1:13AM
Robert Lee Russell Jr., 57, was sentenced to more than 12 years for the robbery, and U.S. District Judge Richard H. Kyle gave him another three years in prison for violating the terms of release for a previous conviction.
Russell pleaded guilty on Jan. 10. He admitted stealing $1,457 from the bank and putting the life of another person in jeopardy by using a gun in the robbery.
Investigators said Russell walked into the bank about 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 4, 2010, while pulling a mask down over his face and waving a handgun. After getting the money from a teller, he ordered the teller to leave the bank with him. Once outside, Russell fled alone.
A bank security guard chased Russell, who fired at least one shot.
Nearby, two Xcel Energy employees who saw the chase watched Russell get into a Dodge Caravan. They pulled alongside the minivan and saw that he was holding a handgun. The Caravan then sped away.
St. Paul police soon tracked down the owner of the minivan, who said Russell had borrowed it earlier in the day. The officers also learned that Russell had purchased some clothes and a backpack at a Stillwater Wal-Mart right after the robbery -- police recovered two of the bank's "bait bills" from the store.
Russell was arrested just after midnight on Aug. 5 when the Wisconsin State Patrol responded to a crash involving the same Dodge Caravan.
A search of the van found more than $1,300 in cash and the just-bought backpack.
James Walsh • 612-673-7428
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