Bank Robber Who Told Teller 'Don't Be A Dead Hero' Sentenced

HUGO, Colo. (CBS4) - A California man found guilty of a bank robbery in Limon has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.

According to the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office, Jewel Wesley Gist, 47, of Modesto, California, robbed the First National Bank of Hugo-Limon on July 31, 2014.

"The teller at the bank identified a male individual who had approached the teller and passed a note stating that he had a gun," Michelle Yi with the district attorney's office said in a statement. "He then demanded hundreds, fifties and twenty's and warned the teller, 'Don't be a dead hero.' After the teller passed the currency in her drawer to the individual, he fled in an unknown direction."

Photographs of the robber were sent to law enforcement officers and the suspect was spotted by a Colorado state trooper driving a U-Haul van on Interstate 70 near Watkins.

"The suspect stopped but then got out of the U-Haul van and ran across four lanes of I-70 into a cornfield. Multiple agencies responded to the area," Yi said. "A search was conducted, including canine units, but they were unable to locate the suspect."

Yi said authorities were able to identify the suspect as Gist through photographs, fingerprints and DNA.

"A nationwide warrant was issued for his arrest and Gist was eventually apprehended in Wheeling, West Virginia, and extradited back to Colorado to face charges of aggravated robbery."

Gist was sentenced on May 6.