(Source: The News & Observer)
By Thomasi McDonald, The News and Observer, Raleigh, N.C.
Nov. 4--Two S.C. men pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday in connection with a high-profile bank robbery this summer that resulted in a car chase and gunshots fired at police.
David Jenkins, 43, and Curtis Leon McCutchen, 27, both pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and use of a firearm in the furtherance of a crime, according to a press release Tuesday night from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh.
Investigators had accused McCutchen and Jenkins of donning masks and walking into the SunTrust Bank on New Hope Road. Federal authorities accused McCutchen of pointing a gun at bank employees and customers while Jenkins jumped over the counter, taking $7,400, according to the press release.
The two men then fled to a black Chrysler Pacifica, driven by Bryan Jamar Singletary, also of South Carolina.
Raleigh police were alerted and chased the vehicle on Capital Boulevard. Federal authorities say that Jenkins fired multiple shots at a police vehicle driven by Sgt. Brian Allen during the chase. The police officer was not hurt, but his vehicle was struck several times.
The five-mile chase ended with McCutchen and Jenkins being caught on foot after they jumped out of the Chrysler near the intersection of Capital Boulevard and I-440. Singletary was caught where the Chrysler had been abandoned.
Police searched the Chrysler and found a Glock .40 handgun and all the cash taken during the robbery, authorities reported Tuesday.
Investigators later found out that McCutchen and Jenkins were both convicted felons. The two men have not yet been sentenced. The maximum penalty for armed bank robbery is up to 25 years in prison. The maximum penalty for use of a firearm while committing a crime of violence is a sentence of up to life in prison.
thomasi.mcdonald@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4533
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