Thread: Prosecutor: Bank Robbers Intended to Take Hostages

Prosecutor: Bank Robbers Intended to Take Hostages

STOCKTON, Calif. — Jul 17, 2014, 7:32 PM ET
By SCOTT SMITH and MARTHA MENDOZA Associated Press

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California Bank Robbery Leads to Deadly High-Speed Chase

Misty Holt-Singh had just popped into the bank, leaving her 12-year-old daughter in the car, when the horror began. An hour later, the mother of two lay dead after a bank robbery and planned hostage taking spun into a chaotic police chase and furious gunbattle during which two holdup men were also killed, authorities said.

Holt-Singh was found dead at the end of a shootout in which one of the robbers who took her hostage used her as a human shield, according to police.

Whose bullets killed Holt-Singh remained unclear Thursday, a day after the burst of violence in this Northern California city, but police said the responsibility rests with the three bank robbers. The suspects intended to take hostages and came into the bank wearing hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses and with their guns drawn, San Joaquin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Ronald Freitas said Thursday. They took down a security guard, took over the bank and went to the vault to get the money, he said.

"In my over two decades of law enforcement, I have never seen or experienced this type of total disregard for human life nor the intensity of the situation that our officers were faced with," Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones said.

"It is very rare for bank robbers to take hostages. It is very rare for them to so heavily arm themselves and prepare to kill and then to actively and continually to try to kill our police officers."

In the aftermath, police and FBI agents sorted through hundreds of bullet holes in 14 police vehicles, citizens' cars, homes and businesses along the route of the chase.

The drama began Wednesday afternoon when the gunmen held up a Bank of the West branch in Stockton and took Holt-Singh and two other women hostage as they made their getaway. It was unclear what led them to take hostages.

During the hour-long chase through this city about 80 miles east of San Francisco, two of the hostages, both bank employees, jumped or were thrown from the stolen SUV, one of them while it may have been going more than 50 mph. At least one suffered a gunshot wound. Both were expected to survive.

Police managed to shoot out the tires of the vehicle, and the getaway attempt ended in a hail of gunfire.

The sole surviving suspect was identified Thursday as Jaime Ramos, 19, of Stockton, who wasn't injured. Police said the other robbers, ages 27 and 30, were gang members, also from Stockton. Ramos was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, Freitas said.

Police said that they recovered at least three handguns and an assault rifle and that the gunmen had ammunition strapped to their bodies.

"The firing never stopped," Jones said.

The police chief said 20 officers who fired their weapons were put on administrative leave pending an investigation — standard procedure after a shooting. He said he believes the officers acted appropriately.

Stockton, a city of about 300,000, was hit hard by the foreclosure crisis and the recession and slid into bankruptcy in 2012. Police officers left for jobs elsewhere, and the city — which has had a longstanding gang problem — saw a spike in violent crime. But the city is close to emerging from bankruptcy.

"Just when you get some momentum in the city, stuff like this happens," Mayor Anthony Silva lamented. "It hits national TV and people are going to say Stockton's ghetto."

The bank branch was locked and empty Thursday. A note in the window said the closing was temporary and due to an emergency. Another note said the branch was set to close for good on Friday and move to another location.
Somebody had placed two bundles of flowers outside the front door with a handwritten note to "Misty." ''Today you were so brave. You died in a haze of bullets, on a lovely afternoon," the unsigned note said. "We all will look after Paul and the kids. You will be sadly missed."
Holt-Singh's Facebook page became a memorial as friends, family and strangers paid tribute to the 41-year-old woman, who had close ties in the community and had been married to Paul Singh for 14 years.
On the website for the dentist's office where she worked as a treatment coordinator, Holt-Singh said: "I enjoy watching my kids play softball and swimming. In my free time I love to coach my kids in softball, snowboarding, and traveling to different countries."
A longtime friend, Andi Burrise, of Stockton, described Holt-Singh as a wonderful woman deeply devoted to her husband and the couple's son and daughter.
"I'm shocked and I'm frustrated by the senselessness of it all," Burrise said.
Witness Jose Maldonado, who said he saw the robbers taking the women out of the bank, said the men had rifles slung over their shoulders and didn't seem to care that there were police all around.
"They were not afraid. They weren't going to take no for an answer. These poor women, they were screaming, they were so distraught, so scared," Maldonado said.
During the holdup, the robbers tied up a security guard. The amount taken was not disclosed.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/dead-california-bank-robbery-24593304

Names of Stockton hostage, bank robbers killed in shootout released

UPDATED 4:08 PM PDT Jul 18, 2014

Misty Holt-Singh

STOCKTON, Calif (KCRA) —Prosecutors said the three men who robbed a California bank and took three hostages before engaging in a gun battle with police intended to take hostages.

San Joaquin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Ronald Freitas said on Thursday the suspects came into the bank on Wednesday afternoon wearing hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses to disguise themselves and had their guns drawn. They took down a security guard, took over the bank and went to the vault to get the money.

One of the hostages, Misty Holt-Singh, and two bank robbers died during the ensuing police chase and gun battle.

San Joaquin Sheriff's officials said the two bank robbers killed were 30-year-old Gilbert Renteria Jr. and 27-year-old Alex Gregory Martinez.

Police said they were documented gang members from Stockton. A third suspect in the crime spree survived by using Holt-Singh as a human shield during the shootout.

Most police departments discourage shooting at getaway cars during chases. But the taking of hostages and hail of bullets coming from the suspect's vehicle forced Stockton police to make the split-second decision to use their own weapons while knowing they might harm an innocent civilian.

"What happened to Misty is a nightmare," husband Paul Singh said. "It's something I would never want to happen to anybody."

Holt-Singh is survived by her husband, a 19-year-old son, and a 12-year-old daughter.

A family friend, Michael Platt, told KCRA on Thursday, "(Holt-Singh) was big-hearted," Platt said. "If you asked her to do something, you could depend on her to do it."

The daughter is coping not only with her mother’s death, but also with what she witnessed in the moments prior.
"My understanding is that she was waiting in the car while her mother went in to get some money for a haircut, and that's what she stopped (for) at the bank," Platt said.

An hour later, Holt-Singh was dead after the bank robbery and planned hostage-taking spun into a chaotic police chase and furious gun battle.

"In my over two decades of law enforcement, I have never seen or experienced this type of total disregard for human life nor the intensity of the situation that our officers were faced with," Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones said. "It is very rare for bank robbers to take hostages. It is very rare for them to so heavily arm themselves and prepare to kill and then to actively and continually to try to kill our police officers."

Whose bullets killed Holt-Singh remains unclear, but police said the responsibility rests with the three bank robbers.

In the aftermath of the shootout, police and FBI agents sorted through hundreds of bullet holes in 14 police vehicles, citizens' cars, homes and businesses along the route of the chase.

The drama began Wednesday afternoon. The suspects entered the Bank of the West branch wearing hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses and with guns drawn, San Joaquin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Ronald Freitas said. They tied up a security guard, took over the bank and went to the vault to get money, he said.

On the way out, they abducted Holt-Singh and two other women, both bank employees, as they made their getaway. It's not clear whether the employees were targeted before the holdup.

During the hour-long chase, the two bank employees were thrown from the stolen SUV, one of them while it may have been going more than 50 mph. Both are expected to survive.

Police managed to shoot out the tires of the vehicle, and the getaway attempt ended in a hail of gunfire.

The sole surviving suspect was identified Thursday as Jaime Ramos, 19, of Stockton, who wasn't injured.

Police said the other robbers, ages 27 and 30, were gang members, also from Stockton.

Ramos is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, and Freitas said prosecutors anticipate charging him with murder and special circumstances including kidnapping, robbery and burglary.

Police said they recovered at least three handguns and an assault rifle and that the gunmen had ammunition strapped to their bodies.

"The firing never stopped," Jones said.

The police chief said 20 officers who fired their weapons were put on administrative leave pending an investigation -- which is standard procedure after a shooting.

He said he believes the officers acted appropriately.

Stockton, a city of about 300,000, was hit hard by the foreclosure crisis and the recession and slid into bankruptcy in 2012. Police officers left for jobs elsewhere, and the city -- which has had a longstanding gang problem -- saw a spike in violent crime. But the city is close to emerging from bankruptcy.

"Just when you get some momentum in the city, stuff like this happens," Mayor Anthony Silva lamented. "It hits national TV and people are going to say Stockton's ghetto."

The bank branch was locked and empty Thursday. A note in the window said the closing was temporary and due to an emergency. Another note said the branch was set to close for good on Friday and move to another location.

Somebody had placed two bundles of flowers outside the front door with a handwritten note to "Misty."

''Today you were so brave. You died in a haze of bullets, on a lovely afternoon," the unsigned note said. "We all will look after Paul and the kids. You will be sadly missed."

Holt-Singh's Facebook page became a memorial as friends, family and strangers paid tribute to the 41-year-old woman, who had close ties in the community and was married to Paul Singh for 14 years.

On the website for the dentist's office where she worked as a treatment coordinator, Holt-Singh said: "I enjoy watching my kids play softball and swimming. In my free time I love to coach my kids in softball, snowboarding, and traveling to different countries."

A longtime friend, Andi Burrise, of Stockton, said, "I'm shocked and I'm frustrated by the senselessness of it all."

Timeline:

At 2:11 p.m. on Wednesday, police in the California city of Stockton received a report of a bank robbery in progress, police said. What follows is a summary by police of the subsequent hour-long chase and furious gunbattle that ended in the deaths of two suspects and a hostage.

- Police arrived on the scene and saw one suspect heading out of the bank with a hostage and then going back in. The three heavily armed suspects then exited the bank with two employees and a customer. The suspects used the three women as shields then got into one of the hostage's vehicles, a Ford Explorer SUV, and drove away. Police pursued.

- Within moments, one of the employees was shot and either jumped out of the SUV or was thrown. The pursuit continued on highways and surface streets with the suspects shooting at pursuing officers, mostly with an AK-47-style assault rifle. No officers were wounded, though the bullets came within inches of them and struck homes and cars. Officers returned fire. Fourteen police vehicles were struck by bullets, and some were disabled.

- At 3:15 p.m., a second bank employee either jumped or was thrown from the SUV. The chase and gunbattle continued.

- About 15 minutes later, police shot out the SUV's tires before a final gunbattle. The suspects continued firing at officers, who returned fire until the gunfire from the suspects stopped. When it was over, the last hostage, Misty Holt-Singh, was found dead in the SUV along with one of the gunmen. Police do not know when she was killed or whether she died from police gunfire or was killed by the suspects. A second gunmen died later at a hospital.

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