Manhattan Man Charged in Three Robberies
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 01, 2011 |
TOPEKA, KS—A man from Manhattan, Kan., has been charged with robbing two banks and a gas station, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Mark Stanton Wyche, 23, Manhattan, Kan., appeared on the charges Wednesday in U.S. District in Topeka. A federal criminal complaint alleges he committed the following robberies:
- The Oct. 4, 2011, robbery of Community First National Bank, 210 Tuttle Creek Boulevard, Manhattan, Kan.
- The Nov. 17, 2011, robbery of Kansas State Bank, 555 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kan.
- The Nov. 22, 2011, robbery of Dara’s Fast Lane, 5321 Tuttle Creek Boulevard, Manhattan, Kan.
The complaint alleges that he wore a green stocking cap, dark colored jacket, stone washed denim jeans, and sunglasses when he robbed Community First National bank. He gave the teller a note reading, “Give me all $100 bills in your drawer! Now! No alarms, no dye packs. Be quick, I have a gun!” He lifted up his jacket to show the teller what appeared to be a handgun in his waistband. The teller described him as wearing a fake mustache.
During the Kansas State Bank robbery, he gave the teller a note reading, “You are being robbed. Give me all the $100 dollar bills in your drawer. You have 10 seconds. No alarms. No dye packs.”
During the robbery at Dara’s Fast Lane, he gave the teller a note saying to “start with the big bills,” or words to that effect. He lifted up the front of his jacket to expose what the clerk believed was a handgun.
On Nov. 28, 2011, Riley County Police received information from the Crime Stoppers Tip Line that Wyche was the robber and was planning more robberies. They compared the writing in two notes from the bank robberies to a sample of Wyche’s handwriting. They also identified a getaway car used in the robberies and interviewed witnesses. On Nov. 30, 2011, they served a search warrant at Wyche’s residence in Manhattan, where they arrested him.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the first bank robbery count, and a maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each of the other counts. The Riley County Police Department and the FBI investigated. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Warner is prosecuting.