News and Press Releases
Man sentenced for robbing a Minneapolis credit union
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS – Earlier today in federal court in St. Paul, a 41-year-old man was
sentenced for robbing the City County Federal Credit Union in Minneapolis on October 25,
2010. United States District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle sentenced Lawrence Coleman, no
known address, to 120 months in prison on one count of bank robbery. Coleman was indicted on
November 17, 2010, and pleaded guilty on October 20, 2011.
In his plea agreement, Coleman admitted that on October 25, he stole approximately $1,700
from the bank, located at 4701 Chicago Avenue South. Coleman was also indicted for stealing
$1,800 from the City County Federal Credit Union in Brooklyn Center on October 26, 2010, and
$811 from the Citizen’s Independent Bank in Robbinsdale on October 28, 2010. Although
Coleman pled guilty only to the October 25 bank robbery, Judge Kyle ordered him to pay
restitution for all three robberies.
According to a law enforcement affidavit filed in the case, the robber, later identified as
Coleman, walked into the credit union at 9:50 a.m. and handed a teller a note that read, “Don’t
talk, don’t move. Give me your $100.00 or I will shoot you.” After receiving cash, Coleman then
left the premises.
While investigating the robbery, officers learned that a man had offered $100 to someone
for a ride from the Target store to the Super 8 motel in Brooklyn Center. At the motel, police
showed the desk clerk a photograph of the robber, and the clerk confirmed that the man was
staying in one of the rooms. During a search of that room, police found a coat that matched the
one worn by the robber.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
Robbinsdale Police Department, the Brooklyn Center Police Department, and the Minneapolis
Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lola Velazquez-Aguilu.
