Update on McClave Bank and Vehicle Robbery

Two persons of interest in a June 28, Friday morning robbery of the McClave State Bank are in custody according to the Bent County Sherriff’s office.  Their identities have not been released at this time.  They are being held at the Prowers County Jail, awaiting the arrival of the FBI which is taking over the case as bank robbery is a federal crime.  The Sheriff’s office did confirm that at least one of the suspects was armed. 

Two vehicles were involved in the robbery, a light colored Ford Taurus and a pick-up truck, both, according to Lamar Police Chief, Gary McCrea, were stolen in Pueblo.  The Taurus driven by the suspects was recovered by Bent County authorities on County Road 34.  The Lamar Police Department apprehended the two individuals and the stolen pick up truck this morning after a car and foot chase through sections of Willow Creek, Boys Paradise and the Woodland Drive area along Memorial Avenue in Lamar.  Boys Paradise is an area of low sand hills and scrub brush between College Road and Woodlawn Drive.   

McCrea said his officers had been notified the suspects were traveling in this direction and the chase in Lamar picked up along Highway 287 and College Drive.  A sum of money was recovered from the suspects, but McCrea said he was not at liberty to divulge the amount or the identities of the suspects.  Two K9 patrols from the Lamar Police Department were also involved in the suspects’ apprehension.

UPDATE: (The suspects have been identified as Pueblo residents, Joshua R. Hyatt, age 25 and Michael L. Givan, age 28.  The men are charged with aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated motor vehicle theft and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.  Both men were transferred to the Bent County Jail)

By Russ Baldwin