United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

DALLAS MEN ARRESTED FOR ARMED BANK ROBBERY

Defendants are Hurricane Katrina Evacuees

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that four men have been arrested and charged in a federal complaint with committing the armed bank robbery of the Chase Bank on Gus Thomasson Road in Dallas, this past Saturday, December 16, 2006. All four men are Hurricane Katrina evacuees from the New Orleans, Louisiana, area.

The four defendants, Ken Joseph Harrison, age 40, Isaac Sabatier, age 22, Marvin Wayne Birtha, age 44, and Gregory Denson, age 43, were arrested by officers with the Dallas Police Department and agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation shortly after the robbery in the attic and rooftop of Diamond Creek Apartments on South Buckner Road. The federal criminal complaint was filed yesterday and today all four appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Irma C. Ramirez for their probable cause hearing. At that hearing today, the Government presented evidence as to each of the defendant’s extensive criminal history. The Court found probable cause to believe all four should be bound over for trial.

According to testimony at the hearing today and the affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, at approximately 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, three suspects, wearing plastic construction hats, entered the Chase Bank with weapons drawn and began ordering employees and customers to the floor. One suspect stood near the entrance of the door hooding a handgun, another suspect stood in the lobby holding a handgun and another suspect, also holding a handgun, jumped over the teller counter. The suspect who jumped over the counter obtained a plastic trash bag from inside the bank and began removing money, which happened to contain a tracking device, from several different money drawers. The suspects fled the bank and were observed getting into a silver Dodge vehicle with no license plate.

Law enforcement officers followed the tracking device to the Diamond Creek Apartments, 3402 South Buckner, in Dallas, where officers observed the silver vehicle in the parking lot that matched the description of the vehicle used by the bank robbers. The signal was further tracked to a specific apartment. When law enforcement knocked on the door of that apartment, the occupant gave officers permission to enter and conduct a search. During the search, officers went to the back bedroom and entered a closet and noticed fresh texture from the ceiling on the floor. Officers then searched the attic and located Ken Harrison, with a white pillow case containing clothing and money, Marvin Wayne Birtha and Gregory Denson. Isaac Sabatier was found and arrested on the rooftop.

Birtha admitted his role in the robbery, saying the all four men met up early Saturday morning. The vehicle they used belonged to Gregory Denson, but Isaac Sabatier was the driver. Birtha said they drove to an unknown location and Sabatier went inside a residence and retrieved the handguns used during the robbery. He said they then drove to the bank, saying that he, Sabiter and Harrison, went inside with Denson remaining in the car. He said that after the robbery they drove to Birtha’s girlfriend’s apartment. When officers conducted a crime scene investigation at that apartment, they located the three handguns used during the robbery as well as clothing worn during the robbery.

Each of the four men is charged with 18 U.S.C § 2113(a) and (d), armed bank robbery. That statute carries a maximum statutory sentence of 25 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Additional charges may be filed; the Government has thirty days to present the case to a federal grand jury for indictment.

U.S. Attorney praised the excellent investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Dallas Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rick Calvert.

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