Teen Who Bragged Of Deerfield Bank Robbery Arrested In Tennessee
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A former Pompano Beach man believed to have robbed a Deerfield Beach branch of BankAtlantic Wednesday was arrested almost a thousand miles away Thursday in a small Tennessee town.
James Gray II was arrested Thursday by the Mt. Juliet, Tennessee police department. Mt. Juliet is about 30 miles east of Nashville.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed by the FBI, agents said a man captured on surveillance video, and believed to be Gray, walked up to a teller counter of the bank's S. Military Trail branch at about 3:30 Wednesday and handed a teller a note.
"Give me $7500. You have exactly 20 seconds, if you don't want to die," the note said. The teller said Gray then lifted his shirt and showed a gun tucked into the waistband of his pants.
The affidavit said the teller gathered just over $2800 and gave it to the man, who left the bank on foot. A surveillance camera at a nearby business spotted the man getting into an ancient Buick and taking off.
The whole robbery was caught on camera, and when the FBI asked media outlets to share the images, they got a hit. A tipster identified the robber as 18-year-old James Gray, and that led the FBI to a drivers license photo that matched the surveillance picture.
Investigators said the tips kept coming in, including someone who supplied an address in Mt. Juliet. Police there told the FBI they'd had a tip of their own, from someone saying James Gray was bragging about robbing a bank.
Police went to the house, spotted what appeared to be the getaway car, and saw Gray outside the house, still wearing the short seen in the surveillance photo.
They arrested him, and the affidavit said he admitted the robbery. Mt Juliet police confiscated $1110, apparently all that remained from the robbery.
Gray was charged with a federal bank robbery count, and was scheduled to be returned to South Florida.
