Home Atlanta Press Releases 2010 Atlanta Man Indicted in Armored Car Robbery
Info
This is archived material from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) website. It may contain outdated information and links may no longer function.

Atlanta Man Indicted in Armored Car Robbery
Defendant Allegedly Had Key to Armored Vehicle Which Was Later Robbed While Stopped at a Hospital

U.S. Attorney’s Office October 20, 2010
  • Northern District of Georgia (404) 581-6000

ATLANTA—OKEVLIBUS THORNTON, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on robbery charges and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. THORNTON is expected to be arraigned on the charges before a United States Magistrate later this week.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This defendant had the opportunity to earn an honest living as a trusted employee of an armored car company. Instead, he allegedly abused his employer’s trust, and in the middle of a stop at a busy local hospital, put the public and other employees in grave danger by robbing the truck.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, a previously filed criminal complaint, and other information presented in court: THORNTON, an employee of Loomis, U.S., an armored car company, allegedly conspired with at least two other individuals to rob a Loomis armored car when it made a scheduled stop on October 13, 2010, at the DeKalb Medical Center. The driver of the armored vehicle heard the noise of a lock opening at the secure compartment of the vehicle, and turned to see two masked men entering the secure compartment.

The complaint alleges that within a few minutes, other witnesses reported seeing two masked men, one of them carrying a handgun, exiting the secure compartment of the armored vehicle with bags of money. The two masked men entered a waiting U-Haul truck, driven by a third person, and fled the scene. DeKalb County Police crime scene unit investigators who responded to the scene found the master key on the floor of the secure compartment of the vehicle. A short time later, at a gas station near the area of the robbery, a DeKalb County police officer approached a U-Haul truck, when a man, later identified as THORNTON, allegedly exited the truck and attempted to flee. The police officer apprehended THORNTON, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying a Glock 17 handgun.

Representatives of armored car company later confirmed that THORNTON was an employee of the company, and that the master key to the secure compartment of the armored car that had been robbed had been missing since September 18, 2010, when THORNTON allegedly had last been assigned to that vehicle.

The indictment charges one count of conspiracy to obstruct, delay and affect commerce by robbery, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 27 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 as to each count. In determining the actual sentence, the court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the DeKalb County Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Teresa D. Hoyt is prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact Sally Q. Yates, United States Attorney, or Charysse L. Alexander, Executive Assistant United States Attorney, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

This content has been reproduced from its original source.