Weymouth And RI Men Charged With Robbing Brockton, Avon Banks

BOSTON, MA — Two men are facing federal charges after prosecutors said they robbed two banks in Brockton and Avon and led police on a lengthy high-speed pursuit through Foxborough and Attleboro.

Dong Lee, 48, Providence and Charles Lamont Wheeler, 46, of Weymouth were already in state custody following mid-September allegations, accusing them of robbing two banks, stealing a car, and the police chase. Federal bank robbery charges were filed Wednesday at U.S. District in Boston.

Federal prosecutors said that on Sept. 14, Lee and Wheeler stole almost $4,000 from the Abington Savings Bank in Avon and almost another $4,000 from a Crescent Credit Union branch on Belmont Street in Brockton. Court documents said they passed a note to bank tellers, threatening that they had a gun.

Witnesses saw the men leave the two banks in a white sedan, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a written statement.

Shortly after Crescent Credit Union reported the robbery, Brockton police were called about a hit-and-run crash involving a white sedan. A witness was able to get a license plate number, prosecutors said.

State police said they saw the same sedan on Route 1 in Foxborough.

“A lengthy high-speed pursuit ensued and eventually ended when the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the wood line,” the statement from the U.S. attorney's office read. “The driver and the passenger then fled the vehicle and ran into the woods."

State police detained Lee in the woods shortly after he ran away. Police said they found thousands of dollars and the threatening note used to rob the banks in Lee's possession.

Wheeler at first escaped police, following the pursuit and his crash into the woods, but prosecutors said he stole another car from a gas station nearby.

Prosecutors said Wheeler led police on a second high-speed chase, but police were able to box him in on route one and take Wheeler into custody.

Wheeler and Lee face a federal sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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