Police, Bank Employees Join Efforts to Catch Serial Bank Robber

The recent arrest of  in the Mehlville area was a unique circumstance involving months of preparation by both the South County Police Precinct and local banks.

When a series of bank robberies began in August, Capt. Marion Monteleone turned to his officers for prevention.

“We went to the banks after the first couple of robberies and said, ‘Here’s what’s going on,’” Monteleone said. “A lieutenant and his platoon took the initiative to go to the banks. Then you have the banks that actually took it seriously.”

Police officers spoke to bank officials about prevention and how to assist the police should a robbery occur.

“The first thing is to dial 911 if possible. Dial 911 and lay the phone down. If it’s from the bank, its like an alarm call,” Monteleone said. “That sped up response time.”

Although most banks have alarm systems, the alarm triggers the alarm company, who then analyze the trigger before calling the police. Sometimes, alarm companies will even call the bank back to confirm that a robbery is in progress.

The on Union Road led to the arrest of Shaw, who was found the next day at a hotel in the city.  Authorities are deciding whether to charge him at the state or federal level in connection with the bank robberies. 

“There were six to eight cars there in under two minutes,” Monteleone said. “The people at Montgomery Bank did an outstanding job of making this all work because if we never got the description of that car, we’d have never caught this guy.”

Aside from calling 911, police instructed bank staff to really look at the robber to get a good description, while others should be designated to look outside for a car.

Lastly, they told staff to lock the bank’s doors after the robber left. That way, if the police show up, the robber cannot get back into the bank.

“They really listened and did these things,” Monteleone said. “They had talked to their staff and said if this happens, you’re going to dial 911, you’re going to look and get a description, you’re going to look at the car. So they were prepared.”

After the call came in May 16, police arrived and got a detailed description of both the suspect and the car.

“This was the first time he pulled right up to the bank door,” Montelone said. The description of the car led to St. Louis City police locating the car and the driver led them to Shaw, who paid the driver $200 for the use of his car, police said. 

The FBI got involved and through his sister, tracked Shaw’s cell phone to a hotel in the city.

“They grabbed him and the guy started confessing,” Montelone said. “That’s how many people had to do the right thing for him to get arrested.”

Patty Iverson, the branch manager at Montgomery Bank, said the timing could not have been better.

“We just had a meeting not even a week before the robbery, and the police said if you see something suspicious, just dial 911 and lay the phone down,” she said. “It was a team effort. Not just our team but the involvement of the St. Louis County Police—the communication really played a big factor in this.”

When police approached Iverson about prevention tips, she relayed the information to her staff and set up training sessions.

“Our entire staff has meetings and we all play roles,” she said. “They all did their role."

There were no customers in the bank at the time of the robbery, and the police had told Iverson to be aware of the morning hours between 9 and 10 a.m.

“They just amaze me—they’re so involved in the community and always trying to get the word out,” Iverson said.

Monteleone said even with prevention, it was a special thing that Montgomery Bank employees followed through with procedure.

“You can tell people to do these things, but when they’re confronted and get a gun stuck in their face, it’s a whole different thing,” he said. “Whether they’re going to do it or not is the question.”