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Tonya Papanikolas ReportingIt's not every day that a bank robber test-drives a car and uses that for his getaway vehicle, but that's exactly what happened in South Ogden yesterday. And the suspect even took along an employee from the car dealership
It is strange. The man robbed a bank while the employee who was in the car with him sat outside. He didn't even know what was going on.
Trent Goodwin, Good-One Auto Salesman: “He came in like an ordinary customer asking about cars."
Car salesman Trent Goodwin says his visit yesterday from a soon-to-be bank robber wasn't unusual. The suspect showed up at Good-One Auto Sales on foot and didn't look nervous.
Trent Goodwin: “Told me this story about he was tired of riding a bus to his job in Salt Lake and had some money saved up and wanted to get into a car."
31-year-old Zachary Hayden picked out a silver Ford Escort Wagon. Goodwin assigned another employee, Jose Gutterez, to go along with Hayden for a test drive. When they returned to the dealership, Hayden said he wanted to buy the car, but had to go to the bank first.
Trent Goodwin: “He said he was gonna walk up and get his money. I said, ‘Well, just take the car.’"
After a short protest, Hayden agreed to go with Guterrez. Their first stop was the Bank of Utah.
Trent Goodwin: “He went into the first bank and was in there for 10 minutes or so. He came back out and says he didn't have his ID so they wouldn't give him any money."
We don't know exactly what happened inside the bank, but tellers became suspicious and notified police. Meanwhile, Hayden told Guterrez he had an account at Wells Fargo, so he could try to pull out money there.
Hayden went inside and passed the teller a note demanding money. When he came out, Guterrez was outside of the car talking with a woman. So Hayden jumped in the car and took off.
Det. Brian Schultz, South Ogden Police Dept: “It was odd for us because usually they don't want as many people to know about it, the least amount of people that know about it, the better."
Police arrested Hayden last night in Ely, Nevada. Officers recognized that the car was stolen and located the money in his glove box.
The FBI says Hayden has a prior burglary conviction in Nebraska. He was just traveling through Utah.
As for the employees at Good-One auto sales, they say they realize Guterrez could have been in danger. They were extremely happy he had not been in the car.
