Blackburn’s family ties atypical of usual suspects

Martin Kuz

Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 | 12:31 p.m.

Alleged bank robber Timothy Lee Blackburn is a devoted family man. So devoted, in fact, that the fugitive from justice may have planned the strangest family trip imaginable -- running from the law with his wife and kids in tow.

FBI officials said Wednesday that chances are good that Blackburn, a suspect in the armed robbery of $1 million from a Bank of America ATM repository in December, reunited with his two daughters sometime after escaping from jail last week. Blackburn, 25, broke out of the North Las Vegas Detention Corrections Center on Aug. 11 with the help of a woman identified by authorities as his wife, Puthea Lee, 24.

The whereabouts of Blackburn, Lee and their children, ages 2 and 4, remain unknown, FBI agent Kevin Caudle said.

"His family is important to him. We think all the family is together," Caudle said.

That theory, if true, would jibe with the recollection of residents in the neighborhood where Blackburn and Lee used to live, who remember the couple for doting on their daughters. Blackburn's dedication to family also contrasts with the generic police profile of bank robbers, and may at least partly explain his alleged involvement in the Dec. 21 heist.

Blackburn and Lee lived at a home on Pipe Spring Drive, which falls in the heart of a middle-class subdivision on the northeast edge of Las Vegas. The house, by all accounts, was a kid magnet. Neighborhood children flocked there to shoot pool in the garage, play with the family's dogs or to join Blackburn for walks around the block and to take a spin on one of his motor bikes.

Three weeks ago another couple moved into the house, which still bears the scars wrought by vandals and neglect. Lee reportedly abandoned the home after Blackburn's arrest about a week after the robbery.

Plywood stands guard behind a shattered window on the house's face. The grass, or what little remains, has turned a jaundiced yellow. A few of Blackburn and Lee's belongings linger in the back yard, including a small swing set and a portable swimming pool.

Along the side of the home, tucked next to a maroon cinder-block wall, sits a doghouse made of thick plastic. The joke around the neighborhood is that it's the world's most expensive doghouse -- authorities found more than $900,000 stashed inside it when they nabbed Blackburn.

The shock of Blackburn's arrest -- to say nothing of his subsequent jail escape with Lee's apparent help -- persists for his former neighbors. The couple enjoyed spending time with their daughters and mostly kept to themselves, according to Leah Jolicoeur, 36, who lives next door to their old residence.

"They were always very nice. He was always friendly, always said 'Hi.' Never in a million years would you expect your neighbor to be arrested for a bank robbery," she said.

Caribena Bradley, 40, who lives down the street, allowed her 11-year-old son to play at the Blackburn-Lee house. She recounted how Blackburn looked after her mother-in-law's dog when he spotted the pooch wandering across his yard late one night.

"He seems like such a nice guy. He was a very nice neighbor, and the kids loved him," Bradley said.

The woman who has moved into the former Blackburn-Lee residence with her boyfriend said family came first for the couple now on the lam. The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said Blackburn's arrest devastated Lee.

"Puthea and Tim, when they were with their kids, they were awesome," she said. "They were family-oriented. They were always together."

And still are, it appears. In that respect, authorities said, Blackburn strays from the profile of the typical bank robber, who generally has little, if any, contact with relatives. The strength of Blackburn's family ties are evidenced by Lee's alleged role in his breakout and the arrests Monday of Terry Blackburn, Timothy's brother, and Lee's sister, Seila Lin, in connection with the escape, Caudle said.

Yet Timothy Blackburn's love for his children also provokes speculation over why he would risk losing them by allegedly robbing a bank and certifiably fleeing jail. The answer may lie in other discrepancies -- and one crucial similarity -- between Blackburn and the portrait of bank robbers drawn by law enforcement.

FBI statistics show that the vast majority of bank heists are as ill-conceived as they are poorly executed. In the 7,527 bank holdups reported last year, robbers absconded with an average of $4,500, and most got away with less than $1,500. Moreover, they didn't get away for long: The FBI posted a 75 percent solve rate for such crimes.

But the robbery of $1 million from the Bank of America repository at 4215 E. Charleston Blvd. was no ordinary caper.

Blackburn and Robert Bates, 26, allegedly kidnapped a three-person bank cleaning crew at gunpoint and drove them to the building. Court records indicate the two men ordered the crew to let them into the repository, then ambushed a pair of armed guards who arrived a short time later to open a vault containing the ATM funds. One guard suffered minor injuries when his firearm accidentally discharged during the confrontation.

Authorities suspect Blackburn and Bates had at least two accomplices who tailed the guards as they drove an armored truck to the bank. Police eventually tracked down Blackburn and Bates by tracing a license plate number off one of two getaway vehicles used in the heist.

In January Blackburn and Bates were indicted on charges of armed robbery, carjacking and unlawfully using a firearm. Earlier this month Bate's brother, Riley, and his girlfriend, Naomi Stachowsky, pleaded guilty to possession of stolen bank funds. Shortly after the robbery police found more than $50,000 in a mobile home shared by the Bates brothers and Stachowsky.

Unlike the typical bank holdup, in which a robber strolls in and points his gun at a teller, the Bank of America job required considerable forethought and precise timing, Caudle said. The amount of money at stake also marked the crime as unusual, he added.

"This guy (Blackburn) -- as opposed to most bank robbers -- he's not stupid. He planned the ATM repository robbery pretty well," Caudle said.

"What makes him different from most bank robbers is he was going to try to get rich quick. Most bank robbers are looking at a small amount of money to pay off a debt or buy drugs. He knew when he tried this there was a lot of money there. He wanted to make a quick-hit score."

But if the heist Blackburn allegedly committed displayed his above-average intelligence and yielded a bigger-than-usual booty, he has something in common with less brainy and ambitious bank robbers -- aside from getting caught.

A study released last year by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts revealed that 30 percent of bank robbers lacked steady employment for two years prior to their arrest.

Blackburn last held down a full-time job three years ago as a security guard at the Beach nightclub. The 6-foot-3-inch martial arts expert and body builder claimed in court documents that he was self-employed and earning $800 a month at the time police arrested him.

Blackburn's former neighbors said he rarely left home except to hang out with friends, and that Lee worked at a local casino. Yet the couple, in addition to owning their house, kept a sports-utility vehicle, a pickup, two jet skis and a water-ski boat in the driveway and garage.

That affluent lifestyle led at least some neighbors to wonder how the family could stay afloat financially. Authorities think that question was answered when they collared Blackburn, whose rap sheet includes convictions for assault with a deadly weapon and obstructing a police officer, on the bank robbery charges.

"He wanted to make a lot of money and never have to work again," Caudle said. "He wanted to make one big score so he could support his family. Unfortunately for him, it didn't work out."

In the same way neighbors of Blackburn had no inkling he would one day become a wanted man, North Las Vegas jail officials said he posed no problems during his eight-month stay. He was at the jail awaiting the start of his October trial.

After Lee allegedly helped Blackburn sneak out of the jail's visitation area last week, the couple traded gunfire with warrant officers as they fled across the parking lot to a pickup. Sgt. Dan Lake, who described Blackburn as "low-key," asserted that the prospect of a conviction on armed robbery charges -- which could carry a maximum sentence of 25 years -- likely inspired the brazen escape.

"There was nothing to predict or indicate that he was -- for lack of a better word -- enthusiastic enough to make a break for it," Lake said. "But, obviously, he had a lot on his mind."

And no doubt still does.

"It seems like an awful way to live the rest of your life -- being on the run," Caudle said. "Especially when you have a family."