South St. Paul Man Pleads Guilty to Robbing Credit Union

Today in federal court a 48-year-old South St. Paul man pleaded guilty to robbing the Wakota Federal Credit Union on October 30, 2009. Appearing before United States District Court Judge David S. Doty in Minneapolis, Steven Lee Olson pleaded guilty to one count of credit union robbery. Olson was indicted on December 2, 2009.

In his plea agreement, Olson admitted taking $1,514 from the credit union located at 1151 Southview Blvd. According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit, the credit union was robbed at 4:58 p.m. The robber, later identified as Olson, walked up to a teller, pointed a purported gun at her, and demanded “banded” money. The teller was too scared to respond, so Olson went to a second teller, who gave him cash.

After taking the money, Olson left the premises. He was wearing a red jacket and had a red bandana covering a portion of his face. A citizen who observed the robbery followed Olson, who took off in a Dodge Intrepid vehicle. Using a cell phone, the citizen contacted law enforcement and reported Olson’s location. Responding to the citizen call, authorities located Olson, who then fled the scene in his vehicle. Law enforcement pursued him for about two miles before he jumped from his vehicle and attempted to outrun the police. Following a short foot chase, Olson was apprehended. During a subsequent search of Olson’s vehicle, officers found the red-hooded jacket, a red bandana, a toy revolver, loose bills, and a bank bill wrapper from the First State Bank of Rosemount, which was robbed on October 21, 2009.

In addition, Olson agreed that he committed five additional bank robberies as well as one attempted bank robbery. Those robberies were from the MidCountry Bank in Inver Grove Heights on September 25, 2009; the Central Bank in South St. Paul on September 30, 2009; a Wells Fargo Bank in Minneapolis on October 6, 2009; the First State Bank of Rosemount on October 21, 2009; the Associated Bank in Hudson, Wisconsin, on October 9, 2009; and the attempted robbery of the Cherokee State Bank in St. Paul on October 20, 2009.

For his crime, Olson faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Judge Doty will determine his sentenced at a future date yet to be scheduled. This case is the result of an investigation by the South St. Paul Police Department and the FBI, with assistance from the Inver Grove Heights and West St. Paul police departments. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan P. Petterson.