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Press Release

Hampton Man Indicted for Armed Bank Robbery and Multiple Bomb Hoaxes

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging a Hampton man with making multiple bomb threats in Hampton and Newport News in an effort to divert authorities away from his armed robbery of the Virginia Educators Credit Union (VECU).

According to allegations in the indictment, Oscar Von Alston II, 31, made a series of bomb threats to public facilities in both Hampton and Newport News including two courthouses, two hotels, and a YMCA.  During the evacuations of the threatened locations where both local police and firemen were dispatched, Alston robbed the VECU at gunpoint. Alston was apprehended less than 20 minutes after the robbery with over $22,000 from the VECU.  

Alston is charged with five counts of making a threat with explosives, five counts of false information and hoax, bank robbery, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of seven years and maximum of life in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, Terry L. Sult, Chief of Hampton Police Division, and Steve R. Drew, Chief of Newport News Police, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Osyf is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:18-cr-79.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

Contact

Joshua Stueve
Director of Communications
joshua.stueve@usdoj.gov

Updated October 16, 2018

Topics
Firearms Offenses
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Violent Crime