Suspected bank robber fatally shot by cop

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Officer fatally shoots robbery suspect
Suspected bank robber fatally shot

raw video: Bank robbery suspect shot in Pasadena

Kevin Quinn

PASADENA (KTRK) -- A suspected bank robber is dead after being stopped by Pasadena police Monday morning.

At about 9:25am, Pasadena police say the man entered the Chase Bank in the 5100 block of Fairmont Parkway. He placed a device on the counter that police say resembled a pipe bomb.

Authorities say the man demanded money, got it and then fled. He was soon spotted by a Pasadena police officer who was responding to a silent alarm from the bank. The officer gave chase, demanding the suspect stop.

Amanda Rinehart was driving to work, pulling into the parking lot by the Chase bank, when she saw something peculiar.

"He was walking real fast and had a blue bandana over his face," she recalled.

Rinehart says the man was not running and police were closing in on him. She had no idea why. His apparent getaway truck was located later just a parking lot away.

Rinehart said, "They were telling him to stop, get on the ground. And he put his hand up and he said no, and he shook his head."

The suspect ran to a nearby strip center, where the officer spotted the man struggling to remove a gun from his waistband. Police say the officer repeatedly commanded the suspect to stop and he apparently did not. The officer, fearing the suspect might hurt someone in one of the businesses at the strip center, opened fire.

Pasadena Police Assistant Chief Bud Corbett said, "The suspect attempted to draw the handgun from the pocket of his coveralls and the officer responded with about five rounds of gunfire, struck the suspect at least once, dropped him on the sidewalk."

The gunfire blew through the window of a check cashing business. Police say the suspect never got off a single shot. They can't say how many times he was wounded.

"It was scary. It was sad," Rinehart said. "It's really sad that he felt like he had to do that to get money."

The bank was evacuated because of the device the suspect placed on the counter. The bomb squad was called and a robotic device sent in to investigate. Police discovered an eight inch piece of pipe wrapped in duct tape with electrical wires coming from it. It was safely removed for further inspection. No one in the bank was injured.

The suspect was identified as Dennis Dwain Jackson, 57. Authorities believe Jackson's description matches one of a robber involved in at least one other Pasadena bank robbery at a Wells Fargo bank on Country Road at Fairmont three weeks ago.

The stolen cash was recovered next to Jackson's body at the scene of the shooting. The officer who opened fire is a 15-year veteran with the department.

 

(Copyright ©2010 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)