Man Sentenced to Two Life Sentences Plus 85 Years in Federal Prison for Murdering Brinks Security Guard and Committing Several Violent Takeover-Style Armed Bank Robberies
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 17, 2012 |
DALLAS—Enrique Lopez, 28, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn to two consecutive life sentences plus 85 years in federal prison following his guilty plea in June 2012 to murdering a Brinks security guard and committing five violent takeover-style armed bank robberies, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
Lopez, and his co-conspirator Jesus Sandoval, 50, were arrested by officers with the Balch Springs Police Department as they fled the scene after committing the armed robbery of the Chase Bank on Lake June Road in Balch Springs, Texas, on October 3, 2009. Sandoval is charged in a superseding indictment with robbing three banks with Lopez and with possessing a firearm in connection with those robberies. Sandoval’s trial is set for November 5, 2012, before Judge Lynn. An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury, and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.
According to plea documents filed in his case, Lopez admits that from February 13, 2009, to the date of his arrest in October 2009, he and Sandoval conspired to commit bank robbery and attempted bank robbery. He also admits that during the commission of this offense, he killed Cresencio Borquez.
The factual resume details several robberies. On February 13, 2009, Lopez and Sandoval, armed with a firearm, robbed a Loomis security guard as he replenished cash in an automatic teller machine (ATM) located at the Bank of America on Camp Wisdom Road. Lopez grabbed the guard from behind, put a pistol to his neck, threatened to kill him, and demanded money. The two took the guard’s service weapon and money bags, and Lopez fired at the Loomis driver.
On June 13, 2009, Lopez, armed with a pistol, entered the Wachovia Bank, located on Interstate 635 in Dallas, threatened bank employees and customers with death, and robbed the bank.
On August 1, 2009, Lopez and Sandoval, each armed with a firearm, robbed the Wachovia Bank on Interstate 635, threatening bank employees with death during the course of the robbery.
On the morning of September 18, 2009, Cresencio Borquez, a Brinks security guard, arrived in an armored truck with his partner at the Chase Bank, located at 2530 Fort Worth Avenue in Dallas. Mr. Borquez exited the truck, opened the ATM located outside the bank, went back to the truck, retrieved money to replenish the ATM, and then returned to the ATM with the cash. Lopez was lying in wait at a bus stop next to the bank with the .45 caliber Glock pistol that he had taken from the Loomis security guard on February 13. When Mr. Borquez returned to the ATM, Lopez quickly approached him, grabbed him from behind, and put a pistol to his head. Mr. Borquez pushed him away, and Lopez shot him twice. Lopez then shot at Mr. Borquez’s partner, who was in the truck. Mr. Borquez died at the scene. Lopez fired a total of eight shots before he jumped into a getaway vehicle driven by a co-conspirator. Lopez did not take the money and later disassembled the murder weapon and discarded the parts.
On the morning of October 3, 2009, two weeks after the fatal shooting of Mr. Borquez, Lopez and Sandoval, each armed with a loaded pistol, entered the Chase Bank on Lake June Road in Balch Springs. The bank was celebrating its grand opening and more than 40 people were in the bank. Lopez and Sandoval, with their pistols, threatened the lives of the people inside the bank and Lopez claimed that he had a bomb in the backpack he was carrying and would detonate it if anyone notified the police. Following a high-speed chase as they fled the scene, Lopez and Sandoval were arrested.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Dallas Police Department, and the Balch Springs Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon McCarthy and Jerri Sims prosecuted.