Aug 13, 2008 10:13 pm US/Pacific
Antioch Bank Robbery Suspects Tied To Pinole Heist
ANTIOCH (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
-
-
Handwritten 'closed' signs on the door of a Wells Fargo bank in Antioch, after it was robbed by 3 armed gunmen.
CBS
Three alleged Antioch bank robbers involved in a police chase that ended in a shootout in Pittsburg have been linked to a similar bank robbery in Pinole as well as other armed robberies in San Pablo, authorities said Wednesday.
"It's clear they were on a crime spree, there's no doubt about that," Antioch police Lt. Brian Addington said.
The Antioch bank holdup occured last Saturday when three men entered the Wells Fargo branch on A Street at East 18th Street, Antioch police said.
One of the men, later identified as Edjuan Scott, a 24-year-old parolee out of Rodeo, was allegedly armed with an illegal assault weapon.
The men allegedly ordered customers and bank employees to get down on the floor, stole an undisclosed amount of cash and fled the bank in a black sport utility vehicle.
Witnesses, however, took down the license plate number of the SUV, which turned out to have been carjacked in Richmond two days earlier, and one witness followed the vehicle to update police on its location.
Antioch police caught up to the suspects at L Street and state Highway 4 and attempted to stop it, but the vehicle kept going and got onto the highway heading west toward Pittsburg, Lt. Brian Addington said.
As police were chasing the vehicle, Scott allegedly leaned out the front passenger window and began shooting at the police vehicle behind him, striking it multiple times, Addington said.
At one point during the pursuit, police placed spike strips in the path of the SUV, which flattened one of its tires, but didn't stop it.
The vehicle chase ended when the SUV crashed into a small pole on Central Avenue near Solari Street in Pittsburg, Addington said.
The suspects then got out and fled on foot. Police, who were also now on foot, chased them into the yard of Russo's Automotive Painting on 12th Street, at which point Scott allegedly turned and began firing at the officers.
Three Antioch officers and three Pittsburg officers fired back, striking two of the suspects, Addington said.
Dominique Cole, a 19-year-old Richmond resident, was treated for his injuries and booked into county jail.
Renwicke Lampkin, a 20-year-old Rodeo resident, was still hospitalized on Wednesday, but was expected to survive his injuries.
Scott was not hit. He was booked into county jail along with Cole.
No officers or citizens were injured during the incident.
Police allegedly recovered the assault weapon used in the bank heist and the stolen cash at the scene.
The three men were arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Contra Costa County Court in Pittsburg. The district attorney's office filed charges against all three suspects for three counts attempted murder of a police officer, bank robbery and evading arrest.
Scott was also charged with possession of an illegal weapon and being a felon in possession of a weapon. Cole was additionally charged with carjacking.
The trio have also been linked to a bank robbery in Pinole last Friday in which the same automatic weapon was used, and two recent armed robberies of businesses in San Pablo, Addington said.
Police from several agencies were continuing to investigate other similar robberies as well to see if the same group could be responsible.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
Click Here For July 4th Fireworks Guide
CBS 5 CrimeWatch 
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
