News and Press Releases
Brooklyn Park man sentenced for
robbing the First Minnesota Bank in Champlin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 3, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court, a 21-year-old Brooklyn Park man was sentenced in connection with the October 26, 2011, armed robbery of the First Minnesota Bank in Champlin. United States District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen sentenced Boyd Jerome Morson, II, to 42 months in prison on one count of armed bank robbery. He was indicted on November 22, 2011, and pleaded guilty on March 5, 2012.
Morson’s co-defendant Lawrence Deangelo Williamson, age 21, also of Brooklyn Park, was sentenced to 60 months on June 1, 2012. He pleaded guilty on February 28, 2012.
In their respective plea agreements, the men admitted stealing $16,900 from the bank. According to a law enforcement affidavit filed in the case, two men in hoods and masks robbed the First Minnesota Bank in Champlin at approximately 10:00 a.m. on October 26, 2011.
After entering the bank, one of the men, later identified as Williamson, vaulted the counter while brandishing a firearm. He and the other robber, later identified as Morson, then ordered the three tellers to the safe. After opening the safe, the bank employees followed the robbers’ directions by filling a black backpack with money from the safe and cash drawers. With the backpack in hand, the robbers subsequently ordered the employees to lie on the floor while they left the premises.
Documents filed with the court in this case indicate that shortly after the robbery, authorities responded to a vehicle fire in Brooklyn Park. The vehicle matched the description of a vehicle seen at the bank at the time of the robbery. Witnesses told police that after the car exploded, another car--a Cadillac--left the area. Because Morson was known to drive a Cadillac, and he lived in the area, law enforcement conducted surveillance on Morson’s residence.
Later that day, authorities spotted two men who matched the description of the bank robbers exit Morson’s residence in the company of two women. The men placed dark colored bags in a red Toyota, and one of the women then drove the vehicle away, the two men in the back seat. Police shortly conducted a traffic stop involving the vehicle, and at that time, the men were identified as Morson and Williamson.
In the trunk of the Toyota, police found a backpack that matched the description of the one used in the robbery. In addition, police seized a nine-millimeter pistol and two license plates that had been removed from the burned vehicle. Morson’s residence was also searched. There, officers found approximately $9,000 in cash as well as clothing that matched that worn by the robbers.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the police departments of Brooklyn Park and Champlin, along with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin S. Ueland.
