Two indicted in string of armed robberies

COLUMBUS — Two Columbus men will face federal charges in connection with a string of bank and restaurant robberies in several Ohio cities, including Chillicothe, Zanesville, Mount Vernon, Springfield, Reynoldsburg and Columbus.

Carter Stewart, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, said one of the men, Lawrence W. Bell Jr., 30, is in custody, while the other, 19-year-old Chad A. Tipton, is not. A warrant for Tipton's arrest has been issued.

A federal grand jury returned indictments against the pair Thursday alleging Bell committed armed robberies at six banks and one restaurant between June 7 and Aug. 13 and Tipton was involved in one of those incidents.

According to the indictment, the first incident involved the June 7 robbery of a Burger King on East Main Street in Reynoldsburg. That was followed June 10 with a robbery of Century National Bank on Maysville Pike in Zanesville, June 17 of the First Service Federal Credit Union on East Main Street in Reynoldsburg, June 26 of Cooper State Bank on North High Street in Columbus, June 30 of the Fifth Third Bank on South Tuttle Road in Springfield, July 16 of the First-Knox National Bank on Blackjack Road in Mount Vernon and finally Aug. 13 of the Fifth Third Bank on West Main Street in Chillicothe.

The robbery at the Chillicothe Fifth Third branch at 128 W. Main St. took place around noon Aug. 13. The bank's security company had contacted police about an armed man who entered the facility brandishing a semi-automatic handgun and demanding money. The man fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Tipton is accused of only having taken part in the robbery at Cooper State Bank, with a charge that includes the use of a firearm in relation to the crime.

Bell was taken into custody without incident Sept. 16 in Marion County, South Carolina, by the U.S. Marshal's Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team on outstanding warrants from the Springfield Police Department and as a suspect in the bank robberies in Springfield and Reynoldsburg.

The robbery involving a deadly weapon counts are each punishable by up to 25 years in prison if convicted, while the use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence counts can carry a maximum penalty of up to life in prison.

Law enforcement representatives from each of the jurisdictions involved in the investigation into the robberies joined Stewart in announcing the indictments.

An indictment indicates only that the grand jury thought there was enough evidence to move the case forward toward trial and is not an indicator of guilt.