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Press Release

Bank Robber Charged After DNA, Fingerprint Matches

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas

A Midland man tied to bank robberies in Lubbock, Odessa, and Abilene has been federally charged, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.

Kenneth Hoyd Seabourne, 57, was arrested on Oct. 20 and charged via criminal complaint with one count of bank robbery. He made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge D. Gordon Bryant, Jr. Thursday morning.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed today, on Sept. 3, an unidentified man entered Prosperity Bank in Odessa demanding money. The man – clad in a tie, white button up, pants, tennis shoes, sunglasses, rubber gloves, and a PPE mask – passed a teller a note that red, “All $ in Bag! I am armed. No Dye Packs no Bait $,” then fled the scene with several thousand dollars currency.  

Responding officers from the Odessa Police Department later observed a man matching the suspect’s description discarding rubber gloves and clothing on the roadway. They recovered the items and sent them to the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory, which retrieved genetic material. The DPS Crime Lab then sent the recovered DNA sequence to the FBI, which ran it through its DNA indexing system, CODIS, and allegedly matched it to DNA on file for Mr. Seabourne.

Meanwhile, just 26 days after the first robbery, a similar unidentified male entered the First Abilene Federal Credit Union, where he passed a similar note to the teller. He then reached into his shirt, grabbed what appeared to be a gun, pointed it at the teller, and threatened to kill if he didn’t get money. Before fleeing the scene in a white Ford Explorer, he demanded the note back.

Sixteen days after that, the same man entered People’s Bank in Lubbock and passed a similar note to the teller there. He once again fled that scene in a similar white Ford Explorer, leaving the note behind.  

Forensic investigators from the Lubbock Police Department recovered a fingerprints off the note, which match fingerprints on file for Mr. Seabourne. Investigators also identified a white Ford Explorer registered in Mr. Seabourne’s name.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Mr. Seaborne is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Lubbock Field Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, the Lubbock Police Department, the Odessa Police Department, the Abilene Police Department, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Callie Woolam is prosecuting the case.

Contact

Erin Dooley
Public Affairs
214-659-8707
erin.dooley@usdoj.gov

Updated October 29, 2020

Topic
Violent Crime