Suspect jailed in bank robbery

Mary Manning and Jennifer Lawson

Thursday, Aug. 4, 2005 | 10:57 a.m.

A few hours after a woman was shot during a botched bank robbery Wednesday morning, Metro Police said they were able to arrest the man who shot her because he left a crucial piece of evidence behind -- a withdrawal slip with his name on it.

Police arrested 21-year-old Jeremy Suggs at 4:20 p.m. Wednesday in a hotel on Flamingo Road, east of the Las Vegas Strip, police said.

A woman who was a customer in the bank was shot in the back from about 10 feet away as she crouched on the floor of a Wells Fargo bank on Eastern near Tropicana Avenue that was packed with customers shortly before 9:45 a.m., Metro Deputy Chief Greg McCurdy said.

Suggs apparently had written his name on a withdrawal slip as he waited in the bank before the robbery, McCurdy said. Police found the withdrawal slip and discovered the man named on it had been arrested before and was identifiable from the bank surveillance cameras, McCurdy said.

"These crooks aren't the smartest people in the world," McCurdy said.

Suggs had been arrested in Las Vegas for a felony charge of auto theft and misdemeanor traffic violations, he said. Suggs had moved to Las Vegas from California, McCurdy said.

The woman was taken to Sunrise Hospital Trauma Unit and underwent surgery. She is in critical condition, but is expected to survive, police said. Her name, age and hometown had not been released by authorities this morning.

Police and FBI agents were in the process of obtaining a search warrant to continue the investigation late Wednesday, McCurdy said.

Detectives and FBI agents intend to review other unsolved robberies to see if Suggs might be connected to them as well, McCurdy said.

Suggs was in the bank for several minutes before he started demanding money from the tellers, McCurdy said. Tellers told police that Suggs "was acting very strange," he said.

After firing a gun in the bank, he fled without getting any money, authorities said.

Although bank robberies in Southern Nevada are relatively commonplace -- authorities investigate about 10 per month -- gunfire is rare.

"Obviously, unfortunately, this one ended in violence, unnecessary violence," Sgt. Chris Jones, Metro Police spokesman, said.

"This bank robbery this morning was very violent," McCurdy said. "We are not going to stand for this kind of violent crime in our community."

The gunman walked into the bank at 4729 Eastern Avenue between Harmon and Tropicana avenues just before 9:45 a.m., police said. Several customers and employees were in the bank at the time.

"He starts screaming and yelling at customers and tellers," Jones said. He grabbed a boy and threatened to shoot him if the employees and tellers didn't cooperate, police said.

There was no indication that anyone was resisting, but the man fired two shots, Jones said. One of the bullets hit a woman in the back, critically injuring her.

"She was complying with his demands," Jones said.

The man ran from the bank, heading east, without taking any money, authorities said. Police and FBI agents aren't certain whether others were involved or if he used a vehicle to get away.

A woman who was going into the Burlington Coat Factory in the same mall as the bank said she saw a man run with something that looked like a gun in his hand behind the coat store. She said she did not see any car or other vehicle. She refused to give her name.

David Schrom, spokesman for the FBI's Las Vegas office, said 81 bank robberies have occurred this year to date in Southern Nevada, which works out to about 10 per month.

Between 120 to 130 bank robberies occur here annually, and this year is typical, he said. Last year the total was 136.

Wednesday's robbery is the only one of those in which someone has been shot, authorities said.

Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.