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Luis Ramirez Gonzalez had a pretty admirable alleged bank robbery run as far as bank robbery runs go. He didn’t quite reach Butch Cassidy levels, but taking part in four robberies in just over two months in these days is pretty decent.
Well, last night the 27-year-old Miami man was arrested by the FBI, putting his suspected streak to an end. His co-conspirators, however, remain at large.
The BB&T branch at 2375 SW 122nd Ave. was the first bank hit on August 27. The crew started off small by simply passing tellers a note demanding money.
Nearly a month passed until a second bank, another BB&T branch at 869 SW 107th Ave., was robbed on September 25. A Citibank at 7795 W. Flagler Street was hit on October 23.
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Then to bring things back full circle, on October 28, the same suspects robbed the original BB&T branch on SW 122nd Ave. again. By this time the suspects had begun pulling out guns, and one of the men jumped over the bank counter during the incidences.
“Last week they escalated their violence and went from presenting notes to displaying firearms, taking employes and customers as hostages and cleaning out the vault,” Robert Lanier, an FBI Officer, told CBS Miami after the last robbery. “Imagine you are in there with your family doing business and the next thing you know a group of people come in and take the bank over and take everyone hostage.”
The suspects wore baseball hats and large black sunglasses to obscure the upper parts of their face during the robberies.
One of the FBI’s strongest leads was that a witness heard one of the men refer to the other as “Luis” during a robbery. They also posted a $5,000 reward for information leading to the men’s arrest.
Luis has now been accounted for. The FBI, however, believes at least one of two other men were involved in the robberies and asking for the public’s help. Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call 305-944-9101.
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