Ralph S. Boelter, Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis FBI office,
today, announced the arrest of Shane Nathaniel Townsend, age 35, of St. Paul,
Minnesota. On Tuesday, December 11, 2007, shortly after the TCF Bank located
at 469 North Lexington was robbed, officers from the St. Paul Police Department
arrested Townsend after stopping a public bus near Chatsworth and University
Avenue in St. Paul. Townsend fled out the rear door of the bus as officers
entered the front door of the bus. Townsend attempted to flee from the officers,
but was immediately captured and arrested.
On Wednesday, December 12, 2007, a federal criminal complaint was filed in
United States District Court, District of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
charging Shane Nathaniel Townsend with bank robbery for the alleged December
12, 2007, robbery of the TCF Bank located at 459 North Lexington, St. Paul,
Minnesota.
The complaint alleges that on December 11, 2007, at approximately 2:30pm,
a teller at the TCF Bank located at 469 North Lexington, St. Paul, Minnesota
was approached by a lone light skinned black male. The robber gave a demand
note for money to the teller and the teller complied. After the robber left,
the teller saw the robber proceed north on foot toward University Avenue.
The robber appeared to hail a public bus, which was headed eastbound on University.
Although the teller did not see the robber get on the bus, the teller believed
the robber got on the #16 bus because of the circumstances. This information
was forwarded to St. Paul Police and within a few moments, St. Paul Patrol
Officers located and stopped the bus. As officers entered the front of the
bus, a man matching the description of the robber exited the back of the bus
and attempted to flee the officers.
Townsend will make his Initial Appearance in a Minneapolis federal court
later today.
This investigation was a joint effort by the St. Paul Police Department
and the FBI. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota is
prosecuting this case.
The charges in a federal criminal complaint are merely an accusation and
defendants are presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
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