Suspect in Ogden bank robbery crashes car, passes out, following casino spree

Thursday, July 20, 2000 | 9:26 a.m.

Authorities believe some of the money from the bank robbery was used in gambling and drinking in Nevada.

Todd Harold Cooper, 37, was found passed out along the side of Interstate 15 in Arizona near the Utah-Nevada border Tuesday morning, said Kevin Fryslie, supervisory senior FBI resident agent in Ogden.

Police say a man wearing a rubber Ronald Reagan mask and brandishing a revolver entered the bank Monday and demanded tellers put money in a white grocery bag.

Someone who allegedly saw Cooper stagger out of a Mesquite, Nev., casino and get into his car tipped the Arizona Highway Patrol.

Troopers found the car crashed and abandoned on the side of the highway. They later found Cooper passed out on the road, Fryslie said.

He was found with large amounts of cash and a gun.

A Washington County, Utah, sheriff's deputy who heard of the incident and remembered the Ogden bank robbery called the FBI.

Cooper was being held in the Mohave County Jail in Kingman, Ariz., pending proceedings to transport him to Utah.

Live chat: Tuesday, noon PST; Chat with Krista Creelman; Problem Gambling Center executive director Krista Creelman will answer questions about gambling addiction from Las Vegas Sun readers from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. ... Submit question