Iowa Man Arrested for Bank Robbery in South Dakota

On September 23, 2010, at approximately 10:25 a.m., the Home Federal Bank branch, located in Coleman, South Dakota, was robbed by a lone man. The robber entered the bank and approached the teller counter. He provided a demand note to a single bank teller, who provided the robber with $3,430. No weapon was observed. The robber then left the bank and fled the area in a blue Cadillac. A witness provided a description of the vehicle to law enforcement. The South Dakota Highway Patrol observed the suspect’s vehicle traveling south on Interstate 29. After a pursuit, the vehicle ended up in a ditch approximately 20 miles south of Coleman. There, the suspect, Sean Cavanaugh, 29 years old, from Iowa, was placed under arrest by South Dakota Highway Patrol Troopers. At the time of his arrest, there was an active federal arrest warrant for Cavanaugh for violation of his federal supervised release conditions, which stem from an earlier bank robbery conviction in Iowa.

At 4:00 p.m. today, Cavanaugh will make his initial appearance in federal court in Sioux Falls. The bank robbery investigation is being handled by the South Dakota Highway Patrol, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Moody County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The matter is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office, District of South Dakota.