The FBI says a report of a stolen car led agents to the man now charged with robbing the First Tennessee Bank in East Brainerd on Wednesday morning and fired a shot that wounded a bank employee. It also resulted in the arrest of two female accomplices.
David D. Cross, Annamarie Holt and Daphne Rodriguez appeared in Federal Court on Monday afternoon on bank robbery charges, which carries a sentence of up to 25 years in federal prison. All three are also charged with discharge of a firearm during the commission of a felony, which carries a mandatory 10-year consecutive sentence up to life in prison.
FBI Agent Jeff Nix said Cross confessed to the holdup, saying he was "desperate for money" to set up housekeeping with his girlfriend, Ms. Holt. They secured a home at 908 Moss St. and bought over $3,000 in furniture with part of the loot.
Agt. Nix said Cross, who is on dialysis twice a week and is on a kidney transplant list, also was concerned that someone was hurt when he fired four shots inside the bank. Bank manager Marcus Holt was hit, including an injury to his right arm, but he is out of the hospital.
Last Wednesday at 10:13 a.m., a black male entered the bank and fired two rounds in the ceiling and two rounds through a glass wall.
The robber then demanded money from a female teller and was given $20,755 in cash.
The robber wore a black mask, black gloves, a long white-sleeved shirt, dark shoes and dark pants. He was armed with a dark semi-automatic handgun.
The robber exited the bank and entered a white four-door car, believed to be a Kia. It was driven by a white female and there was another passenger.
Agt. Nix said after Cross got back in the car that Ms. Holt hollered, "Put it in reverse," and Cross yelled, "Go, go, go."
He said just before the holdup, Ms. Holt told Ms. Rodriguez, "Hey, we're going to do a big one. It's a bank."
The agent said Cross had been at the bank at least 15 prior times.
Four .45 caliber shell casings were recovered from the bank.
The same day, Candace Rossignol reported that her white Kia Optima was recently stolen from her residence and she believed it was taken by a white male named "Hump." She said she believed her car may have been used in the holdup.
The FBI said "Hump" is a white male named Wilmer Sharrerd and has a brother named Barry Adams.
Ms. Rossignol's Kia Optima was found two days later abandoned in the parking lot at Hamilton Place Mall.
The FBI said the day the car was recovered Adams said Ms. Rodriguez may have stolen the Kia.
Ms. Rodriguez was interviewed and she admitted driving Cross to the bank. She said he returned from the bank with several thousand dollars and she drove him from the location. She said Ms. Holt was also in the car.
She said she could hear the gunfire in the bank.
Ms. Rodriguez said Ms. Holt had driving Cross near the bank for suveillance.
She said after the robbery she dropped off Cross at the Hamilton Inn. She said Cross gave her $2,000. She said she then drove to the mall with Ms. Holt and they discarded the Kia.
Cross and Ms. Holt were arrested later that day near American Freight Furniture. A short time before, Cross and Ms. Hold had paid cash for over $3,000 in furniture.
Agents searched the hotel room of Cross at the Hamilton Inn and found a .45 caliber sei-automatic pistol with ammunition that matched the shell casings from the bank.
Agt. Nix said some of the money, but not all, has been recovered. He said the $2,000 that Ms. Rodriguez got has still not been returned.
He said Ms. Holt admitted being at the bank, but said the robber was a black male named "Dirty."
After the hearing before U.S. Magistrate Susan K. Lee, all three defendants remain in detention. Cross asked for a detention hearing, while the other two defendants said they reserve the right to ask for one later.
Magistrate Lee said Cross did not have a bad criminal record, but she said it appeared he was in violation of a protective order that had been put down in behalf of Ms. Holt. She said that showed some violence in his background.