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TUCSON -- A soldier from Fort Huachuca was charged Monday with armed robbery of a bank.
The incident involved the threat of a bomb and required four hours to clear.
Because the soldier belongs to an ordnance (explosives) company on Fort Huachuca, authorities became especially concerned.
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The soldier has confessed to the robbery and a similar one at the same bank Jan. 22, according to Tucson police.
A public information officer from Tucson Police Department, Sgt. Mark Robinson, provided the following account of Monday's ordeal at a Wells Fargo branch at the corner of Speedway Boulevard and Warren Avenue:
At 9:30 a.m., police received a 911 call that a man had entered the bank with duct tape over his mouth, handed a teller a note demanding money. In the note, he claimed to have a bomb in his mouth, "as bizarre as that sounds," Robinson said.
The alleged bank robber was identified as 33-year-old Sgt. Jeffry Leon Lewis, Jr., of Fort Huachuca.
Customers and staffers inside the bank began to evacuate quietly, but "some of the customers didn't realize that there was a robbery in progress," Robinson said.
Two women exited the bank, and were apparently confused because they then tried to re-enter the bank, and as they swung open the bank doors, there were uniformed city police officers following them closely. The officers were positioned outside and were attempting to quietly usher people to safety.
The officers who followed the women back into the bank immediately found themselves in the presence of Lewis. A backpack that Lewis was wearing was removed far from the building, then Lewis was taken a safe distance from the bank property. He was handcuffed to a metal railing near an underground walkway used by the UA community.
A Tucson Police Department bomb squad robot inspected the backpack and Lewis. The robot removed the duct tape.
"He spit out whatever it was he had in his mouth." Robinson said. "It wasn't an explosive. It was soggy."
Lewis' vehicle, parked in the vicinity of the robbery, also had to be cleared by the bomb squad because of the concern about Lewis' affiliation with an explosives unit on Fort Huachuca.
Robinson said Fort Huachuca was "very cooperative" throughout the ordeal as it developed through the morning.
"They were working hard to help us out," Robinson said.
Lewis was booked into the Pima County Jail and as of Monday night was being held on a $40,000 bond, according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department's Internet site, which has a page that lists jail inmates.
According to Eric Hortin, deputy public affairs officer for NETCOM/9th ASC, Lewis is an E-5 electronics repair specialist with the 556th Ordnance Company (maintenance support).
Lewis entered the U.S. Army on Oct. 1, 2001, Hortin said.
Hortin was not aware whether Lewis had served overseas.
The fort will not be involved in the case, Hortin said, because Lewis is in the custody of civilian authorities.
"It's out of the military's jurisdiction at this point," Hortin said.
Responding authorities included Tucson Police Department and its bomb unit, the FBI, ATF, University of Arizona Police Department and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
HERALD/REVIEW City Editor Ted Morris can be reached at 515-4614 or by e-mail at cityeditor@svherald.com.
Ezai I. Martinez wrote on Jun 24, 2009 7:58 PM: