ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An anonymous tip and video from surveillance cameras led to an arrest in a robbery two weeks ago of an east Anchorage credit union.
Federal prosecutors on Friday announced the arrest of Kek Nyathor Bol, 21, on charges of bank robbery and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Bol in an FBI interview denied any involvement, special agent Daryl Allison said in an affidavit. Bol’s attorney was not listed in online federal court documents.
Prosecutors said a man at about 4:30 p.m. June 15 entered a branch of Credit Union 1. The man wore a black bandanna over his face and a gray sweat shirt with a front pocket and carried a semi-automatic pistol.
Witnesses said the man fired a shot into the ceiling, pointed the handgun at tellers and demanded money.
The man took money from one teller and shoved it into the front pocket of the sweat shirt, Allison said. He then pulled a clothing store plastic bag from his pocket, put cash inside from two more tellers and ran out of the building.
Police found a 9mm shell casing on the credit union floor.
Video from businesses showed a sedan just before the robbery driving one street over from the credit union. Video after the robbery showed the suspect running toward the sedan. The video also showed the suspect dropping items in the parking lot that turned out to be bundles of cash.
An anonymous tip reported to Anchorage Crime Stoppers led law enforcement officers to a social media post about the robbery and Bol’s northeast Anchorage home, where they found the sedan parked outside.
After obtaining a warrant, officers searched the home and car.
Bol acknowledged he had a 9mm handgun, Allison said. Police seized the gun, ammunition, plastic bags from the clothing store and $7,722 in cash found in a sweat shirt. One of the $20 bills recovered had a serial number that matched a bill given to the robbery suspect, Allison said in the affidavit.
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