The FBI has arrested a suspect believed to have used a child as a pawn during a bank robbery in North Texas earlier this month.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the shocking incident occurred on June 6 at the First Convenience Bank branch inside a Walmart in East Fort Worth.
According to reports from the FBI and local law enforcement, the suspect, recently identified as 44-year-old Ronnie Newman, entered the bank located off Anderson Boulevard with a small child seated in a shopping cart. Newman then allegedly approached the tellers and handed over a note instructing them to hand over cash. After the tellers complied with the demands, he quickly exited, carrying both the cash and the child.
On June 13, the Dallas field office of the FBI issued a news release showing the suspect’s photo, urging the public to help identify the robber and bring him to justice. This reportedly yielded many tips from the public.
Newman, who has a criminal history of theft, was apprehended on June 17 in Mineral Wells by detectives from FBI Dallas and the Fort Worth Police Department working on the Fort Worth Safe Streets Task Force.
According to jail records, Newman was booked into Tarrant County Jail on June 18 on charges of robbery. His bond has been set at $50,000.
The whereabouts of the child and Newman’s relation to him or her are still unknown.
Dallas has seen a significant year-over-year rise — almost 22% — in business robberies, according to the Dallas Police Department’s violent crime report from June 18.
DPD has been laboring under a significant staffing shortage, with just 3,000 officers in the field despite a City report recommending closer to 4,000 to ensure public safety. An additional challenge is the Dallas City Council’s decision to allocate just $654 million to the department this fiscal year. This is far less than the spending levels on police in other high-crime jurisdictions, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.