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Sandra Yi Reporting Investigators may have solved a string of violent bank robberies, with the recent arrest of the alleged gunman.
Now two men face federal charges.
Investigators say, the armed robbery at the Cyprus Credit Union in Sandy was the suspects' third, in three months. And had they not been caught, it wouldn't have been their last.
Brett Tolman, U.S. Attorney for Utah: "These individuals were very brazen and conducted themselves as though they had no remorse."
Authorities say William Harrison and Willie McNeal were partners in crime. The two are accused of stealing nearly 20 thousand dollars during take-over style robberies at three banks and credit unions.
#mcneil
Authorities identified Harrison as the masked gunman seen in the surveillance video from the Cyprus Credit Union in Sandy, on December 1st. The robber fired a shot into the air, then jumped in a getaway car allegedly driven by McNeal.
Brett Tolman: "When they're that callous and when they're that determined, that's when you have all the ingredients for a bad result. We're fortunate nobody was harmed."
The two have also been linked to similar robberies at the Chase Bank in Midvale on November 1st, and the Mountain American Credit Union in Layton, in October.
Orville Hastings, Layton Robbery Witness, December 1, 2006: "He walked in and said, 'boom', and he said everybody on the floor, everybody on the ground, and we all hit the ground."
Brett Tolman: "It's interesting that they apparently felt they were so good at it, and having so much success, they did it on three occasions."
But a tipster led authorities to McNeal last month, who then named Harrison as his accomplice. Police arrested Harrison yesterday morning, during a traffic stop in Salt Lake City. Authorities also have surveillance video which shows the men trying to exchange dye-stained money in a cash machine in Wendover.
They now face federal charges, made more severe, because of the gunfire.
Brett Tolman: "Regardless of how long we've been doing this, for years and years now, prosecuting violent gun crime, there are people who are not listening. We will continue to prosecute them."
There is a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison for firing a gun. That goes up to 25 years, for every subsequent charge.
Harrison has been charged with bank robbery. McNeal faces a weapons charge. More charges are expected.
