Police, SWAT Search For Violent Bank Robbery, Carjacking Suspects Near High School
SHERIDAN, Colo. (CBS4) - Miguel David Sanders faces charges including attempted murder, kidnapping, and carjacking while two other suspects remain at large from a crime spree through Lakewood into Sheridan.
Wearing an orange jump suit with no hair Sanders, 28, appeared in Jefferson County Court where a $1 million bond was set.
On Wednesday just after 11 a.m. at the 1stBank at West Jewell Avenue and South Kipling Street the gunmen threw a woman to the floor who had been hiding under her desk injuring her. The robbers then forced employees to the vault where almost $51,000 was stolen. They wore "Scream" type masks similar to those used in a similar violent bank robbery in September.
Lakewood police spokesman Steve Davis says those involved in the crimes are armed and dangerous.
"These are people who obviously think nothing of shooting people who just get in their way," Davis said.
With a GPS device slipped into the money, police tracked the robbers to a field near Hampden Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard. The suspects ditched an SUV after getting stuck in the mud. They then moved to a house in a well-to-do neighborhood where Gary McKenna, 64, was carjacked and shot.
"He gave him the keys, he had given him the van, but was not going to go with him," Davis said.
Shocked neighbors learned McKenna had been shot three times in the chest, back and wrist, critically wounded.
The gunmen then moved to Sheridan. There they confronted 52-year-old Ronda Torrez and her daughter Robin where they exchanged punches and shot the daughter in the hand. The men tried to take their car, but it wouldn't start because it had a breathalyzer attached to the ignition system.
A massive manhunt led to the Sheridan High School bus barn.
One student, Crystal Delgado, told CBS4's Rick Sallinger she saw Sanders being arrested.
"They had him on the floor, they were dragging him, and then they got him up and they put him in the car," Delgado said. "But then as soon as I saw the SWAT team, that scared me the most."
Other students said the police went inside the school.
"The SWAT team came in and started asking the teachers what was going on and some of the teachers got gun pointed at them and some of my friends had guns pointed at them too," student Tarron Calhoun said.
The manhunt resulted in one arrest, recovery of some cash, and a desperation to find the others.
Lakewood police said one or more of the suspects had bald heads. Another may have had hair made into corn rows. All three are African-Americans.
LINK: Miguel David Sanders Arrest Affidavit
Additional Information From The Lakewood Police Department
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CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.
