Plea deal reached in bank robbery case

Kim Smith

Friday, Dec. 7, 2001 | 9:36 a.m.

A Las Vegas man who tried to hold up a bank in January by threatening to expose employees to a deadly nerve gas has entered a plea agreement.

Luke Davis, 30, said Thursday that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him on one count each of burglary, attempted second-degree kidnapping and making threats to use a biological agent.

As a result of the plea agreement, Davis faces as little as one year in prison or as much as 26 years when he sentenced by District Judge John McGroarty Jan. 17.

Davis' public defenders, Jeff Banks and Amy Dreifus, said Davis was delusional when he walked into the First Security Bank on 1620 E. Flamingo Road on Jan. 12.

Davis, who had just moved to Las Vegas from Oregon, believed if he didn't rob the bank that he and his family would be killed by some outside force.

Davis gave a teller a note that said he was carrying one sarin gas device. It also said that two sarin gas devices had been placed in different public places.

Davis' note instructed the teller to get rid of the banks' customers, gather the other employees and call the FBI.

The note ended with the phrase, "The clock is ticking."

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz told McGroarty that during Davis' three-hour conversation with the FBI he demanded the authorities give him $25,000 in Canadian gold coins for every hostage he released. He also spoke about how "nasty" a sarin gas-related death is.

Davis let his first hostage go 30 minutes after the stand-off began, and his seventh and last hostage was released about three hours after the incident started, Schwartz said.

A team from Nellis Air Force Base found no sarin gas or explosives.

It's unclear why Davis demanded foreign currency or what he would have done had his demands been met, Dreifus said.

According to a recent Nevada Supreme Court decision, an insanity defense is allowed, although Banks said jurors typically won't acquit under those circumstances.

Not wanting to take the chance that he could be convicted on the 16 charges he originally faced, Davis decided to accept the deal.

Davis didn't admit guilt, however, as he was mentally ill at the time and can't remember forming the intent to rob the bank, Dreifus said.

Dreifus said that Davis, who has no criminal history, has experienced mental problems for years and hopes that prison staff will provide him the care he needs.

"This is just a sad situation for this guy," Banks said. "He's a highly, highly intelligent, man and it's sad that he's in this sort of situation."