Man Sentenced in Overland Park Bank Robbery

KANSAS CITY, KS—A man who said he was facing the prospect of being homeless when he robbed an Overland Park bank has been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Thomas Crowl, 64, who had been living at the VA Hospital in Leavenworth, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery. In his plea, he admitted that on May 22, 2012, he robbed the Metcalf Bank at 10300 Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park, Kansas.

Wearing a Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants, a black hat, and sunglasses, Crowl entered the bank and approached a teller. He gave the teller a note demanding money and stating there was a bomb in a box that he placed on the counter. After the teller gave him money, he left the bank with the money and the box. Crowl later told investigators there was no bomb in the box.

Crowl was arrested later that day at the La Quinta Inn Hotel at 10610 Marty Street in Overland Park. Crowl told investigators had been released from prison in June 2011 after serving a sentence for bank robbery. He lived for a while in a halfway house and then moved to the VA Hospital. He said he recently had been told he could no longer stay at the VA Hospital. He said he had nowhere else to live.

Grissom commended the Overland Park Police Department, the FBI, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Smith for their work on the case.