Crime & Courts

Charges: Anchorage bank robbery was ‘real easy,’ the man said. Now he’s under arrest

Charges say that a couple accused of holding up a Wells Fargo branch April 3 in Anchorage's Russian Jack neighborhood had boasted about how easy it was to commit the crime. Now they are under arrest.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation charged 28-year-old Derrick Moore, along with 31-year-old Bethany McKeel, on federal bank robbery charges last week.

Moore and a male partner walked into the Debarr Road branch of the bank just after 5 p.m. April 3 with a semi-automatic pistol and a bag, according to a sworn affidavit filed by an FBI agent. They walked out with more than $15,000 in cash

Moore held the bag; his partner held the gun, the document says. The two men ran out of the bank's front door, across a parking lot and then toward a trail leading to a cul-de-sac where they climbed into a green SUV driven by McKeel.

The affidavit also includes a description of a conversation recorded by an informant during which Moore and McKeel talked about their involvement in the crime.

"'Its real easy … you just give the note to the teller,'" Moore says, according to a transcript in the complaint. "'Once I put the bag in their face and told them to give me all of it it was a wrap.'"

Moore talked about doing another bank robbery the day of the conversation, the affidavit says.

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Police and federal prosecutors couldn't say Monday whether the two are also suspects in another robbery at the same Wells Fargo location later in April or another robbery.

[FBI releases video of armed man who robbed Anchorage bank]

The investigation into the April 3 Wells Fargo robbery did turn up a potential connection to a different case, however.

The SUV used in the robbery had been stolen, taken in late March, police say. Inside the vehicle, police found two bright green bandannas referenced in another case where the suspect was wearing that style, the affidavit says.

An Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman said that case corresponded with a March 27 robbery of a Holiday gas station on Bragaw Street. There have been no arrests in the robbery.

The FBI arrested Moore and McKeel at a location on P Street where they were living on April 25, the affidavit states. Agents found counterfeit money and "realistic replica pistols" in the bedroom.

A third suspect identified in the bank robbery complaint as the suspect holding the gun has not been charged, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday.

Wells Fargo announced a reward of up to $5,000 Monday for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the third suspect. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the FBI at 907-276-4441.

Zaz Hollander

Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. Contact her at zhollander@adn.com.

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