Thursday, Dec. 31, 1998 | 4:49 a.m.
LAS VEGAS - The largest bank robbery in Las Vegas history went off without a hitch. The suspects even had authorities saying how well planned the heist was.
But the fun was short-lived.
Just more than a week after the theft of $1 million from a bank repository, authorities arrested four suspects on Thursday.
"The success so far came from information from the public," said Bobby Siller, special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office. "We took that information and ran with it."
The FBI and Metro Police closed in on the suspects overnight.
Timothy Lee Blackburn, 25, and Robert Arthur Bates, 26, who are believed to be the ringleaders, were charged with armed robbery and aiding and abetting. Naomi Lynn Stachowsky, 22, and Riley Aruda Bates, 24, brother of Robert Bates, were charged with accessory after the fact and receipt of stolen bank robbery funds. All the suspects are from Las Vegas.
The FBI is still considering additional charges and is also looking for more suspects.
A fifth person, Selma Feila-Lim, 20, was charged with interfering with the arrest of Blackburn.
"We're still developing leads on additional suspects," Siller said. "We worked all night on this and we're still in hot pursuit."
Siller said a large amount of cash has been recovered, but wasn't sure how much because it was still being counted.
The Dec. 21 robbery of the Bank of America ATM repository on East Charleston Avenue began around 9 p.m., when three members of a family of a janitorial service's cleaning crew were kidnapped as they left their residence to go to their first assignment.
They were tied up and placed in the back of their own van by two armed, masked men and driven to the banking facility, where they were held for two hours while their captors spoke with two other accomplices who were following a Loomis Fargo armored truck, Siller said.
The cleaning crew was taken into the repository, using the janitorial service's keys, about 11 p.m. Thirty minutes later, the Loomis Fargo armored truck arrived with two messenger guards, who were to empty the vault.
As they opened the vault and were removing $1 million in cash that was packaged and ready for pickup, they were accosted by the armed subjects.
A guard was slightly wounded while one of the robbers was disarming him.
Siller said the suspects took the money and fled in a white Chevrolet S-10 pickup, which was recovered a short distance from the repository.
The suspects also are believed to have been involved in the theft of $79,000 from a Colonial Bank on West Lake Mead Boulevard, 11 hours earlier. A similarly described vehicle was seen at both robberies, Siller said.
Siller said the suspects have not been charged with that robbery. It is still under investigation.
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