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Unemployed Man Arrested In 3 Bank Heists

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 20, 2009

TAMPA - Authorities from two agencies Thursday night charged an unemployed man with burglarizing and robbing three banks over the past two months, including one Tuesday morning in Temple Terrace.

In each heist, the robber broke into the bank at night, surprised employees showing up for work and then stole an employee's car to make his getaway.

Michael Purnell Weston, 44, of 2002 Jean St. in Tampa, was arrested at 10:30 p.m. Thursday. He remained in the Orient Road Jail today. No bail was set.

Weston was charged with multiple counts of armed robbery, armed burglary and armed carjacking. He also was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of armed kidnapping.

In the Tuesday robbery, the thief cut a hole in the roof of the Wachovia Bank branch and confronted employees when they arrived for work. Armed with a silver handgun, the thief stole more than $40,000 cash and demanded car keys from an employee, an arrest report states.

The robber fled in the victim's 2007 Volkswagen Jetta. No shots were fired and no one was injured.

Police have linked the man to a robbery at the SunTrust Bank in Temple Terrace on Jan. 9.

In that heist, the same scenario played out, police said. The man was in the bank when employees arrived and stole an employee's car to escape after grabbing $8,900 cash.

Police spokesman Michael Dunn said Weston is a suspect in at least one bank robbery in unincorporated Hillsborough County, north of Tampa. He said sheriff's deputies collected a DNA sample from that robbery and matched it to Weston, who served a 28-month prison sentence on charges including burglary, grand theft and aggravated assault. He was released in March, records show.

Weston was arrested at his home and admitted to the two Temple Terrace robberies when he was interviewed by detectives, Dunn said.

Sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said deputies charged Weston on Thursday night with robbing the American Momentum Bank, 15150 N. Florida Ave., on Jan. 5.

The robber broke a window to get inside the bank and waited for employees to arrive in the morning. He ordered a woman at gunpoint to open the vault, Callaway said. He demanded her car keys and stole her vehicle.

The robber left behind a black ski mask that had DNA evidence, Callaway said. Deputies matched the DNA to samples taken from Weston when he was in prison.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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