Two Charged with Robbing TCF Bank Branch in Minneapolis

Ralph S. Boelter, Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis FBI field office, announces that Orlando Ray Vasquez, 40, of Nevada, and Gregory Scott Tyler, 49, of Minnesota, were charged by federal complaint today with one count each of bank robbery. They will have their initial appearance in federal court in Minneapolis today at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Arthur J. Boylan.

At approximately 9:00 a.m. on February 28, 2011, Vasquez entered the TCF Bank branch at

1444 West Lake Street

in Minneapolis. He presented a demand note to a teller demanding cash in certain denominations. The note also indicated he would become violent if the teller did not comply. He threatened to “smoke” the teller and also pointed a can of pepper spray at the teller during the robbery. The teller provided Vasquez $215 cash. The robber fled the bank, followed by the teller. Once outside, the teller heard someone say the robber had left in a vehicle heading eastbound on

Lake Street

.

Early investigation revealed the robber was likely a Hispanic male wearing a red baseball cap, a black jacket, and blue jeans. Minutes later, the Minneapolis Police Department responded to a car crash near the intersection of

West 24th Street

and

Bryant Avenue South

. A witness reported seeing a white male and an Hispanic male fleeing from a crashed four door Acura and running toward Colfax Avenue South. Law enforcement subsequently observed a red baseball cap and some U.S. currency inside the Acura. Moments later, police responded to a carjacking near the intersection of

West 24th Street

and

Colfax Avenue South

. The victim reported that a white male and a Hispanic male, bleeding from the face, had stolen her car. The crashed Acura had been reported to police as being stolen on February 26, 2011. The car’s owner told police he believed it had been taken by Gregory Scott Tyler. The U.S. Marshal Service had been looking for Tyler because he had cut off a monitoring device and absconded from a Volunteers of America halfway house on that same day. Tyler had been in custody for a previous bank robbery of a TCF Bank branch in St. Paul.

On March 1, 2011, Deputy U.S. Marshals located Tyler in or near the Highway Motel on

West 7th Street

in St. Paul. They determined that a Hispanic male was staying in the same room as Tyler. FBI agents responded to the hotel and interviewed Tyler and the Hispanic male, identified as Orlando Ray Vasquez. Vasquez had large cuts and scrapes on his face and said he had injuries to his legs. It was determined that he had absconded from a halfway house in Nevada after being convicted of a previous bank robbery in Nevada. Vasquez stated during the interview that he had robbed the TCF branch and that Tyler had driven the getaway vehicle. He said he did not use a gun to rob the bank, but that he did point a can of pepper spray at the teller. Tyler stated in his interview that he stayed in the car while Vasquez robbed the bank, that he knew Vasquez was going to rob the bank, and that he would drive the getaway car. Tyler said he sped from the bank because he thought they were being pursued. He said after the crash that he demanded the woman’s car and tussled with her before she relented. He said he and Vasquez drove her car to a parking lot in St. Paul where they abandoned it before taking a bus to the Highway Motel.

Law enforcement located medication in the name of Gregory Scott Tyler in the trunk of the Acura. A coat closely resembling the coat worn by the bank robber was recovered by law enforcement in the motel room, as was a can of pepper spray.

The charges in a federal criminal complaint are merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.