Two Tulsa men have been charged in federal court with robbing a local bank of more than $86,000.
Vernon James Hill, 26, and Stanley Eugene Hill, 24, are accused of conspiring to rob the Arvest Bank at 218 S. Memorial Drive. Vernon Hill was out of jail on bail on a different bank robbery charge when the Arvest Bank was robbed, court records show.
An FBI affidavit filed with the federal charges Monday says two men entered the bank about 8:30 a.m. Nov. 5. One was carrying a small black handgun and demanded that everyone get on the ground, while the other man jumped over the teller counter and demanded money, the document says.
The men ordered the employees to open the vault and put its contents in a tan bag with a knot tied in the bottom, the affidavit says. A subsequent audit showed that $86,918.52 was missing after the robbery.
Unbeknownst to the robbers, a GPS tracking device was placed "inside of the bag of loot," the affidavit says.
Police were able to track the device to a residence in the 1100 block of East Pine Street. The two men were arrested as they left the house shortly after 11 a.m., less than three hours after the heist.
A tan pillowcase with a knot tied in the bottom was found hidden under the oven. The pillowcase contained more than $86,000, a GPS tracking device and all of the bait bills the bank had listed as being stolen, according to the affidavit.
Both suspects were still in the Tulsa Jail late Tuesday.
Vernon Hill was charged Sept. 29, 2009, with first-degree robbery in connection with an August 2009 holdup at the IBC Bank branch in the 4200 block of South Garnett Road.
A mistrial was declared in that Tulsa County District Court case in May when a jury could not reach a verdict, and Hill was released from jail on $40,000 bond later that month, court records show.
A retrial had been scheduled for Nov. 7, but Hill was arrested in connection with the Arvest Bank robbery before that court proceeding could take place. A status conference in the case is scheduled for Wednesday.
Copyright 2011 - Tulsa World, Okla.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
