Spotlight on Elders in Georgia Heists

John S. Burnett, Associate Editor

A pair of arrests in Georgia caught our eye this month. Both involve older individuals, but on opposite sides of the law.

"Grandpa Bandit"
Police in Perry, GA, are holding Bobby Joe Phillips, dubbed the "Grandpa Bandit" by the FBI because of his age, given as either 64 or 69 depending on which of Phillips's two birthdates is accurate. Authorities are sorting out a series of bank robberies in Georgia and Tennessee to determine whether Phillips will first appear in federal or state court, and in which state.

According to the FBI, Phillips is linked to at least seven bank robberies, starting with the First Georgia Community Bank in Covington on September 20. That heist was followed by robberies of the First Tennessee Bank in Knoxville on October 1 and 12, the SunTrust Bank in Suwanee, GA, on October 24, the Tennessee Members 1st Federal Credit Union in Knoxville on November 1 and 9, and Security Bank in Warner Robins, GA, on November 8.

According to police, Phillips wore no disguise in any of his heists. He simply handed a teller a note and walked out with a bag of cash. In the later incidents, Phillips reportedly said he had a gun, and revealed a pistol stuffed into his waistband in the last holdup.

Phillips was arrested without resistance when his pickup truck was spotted by Perry police in a motel parking lot.

Cops Jam Traffic Before Robber Surrenders
Twenty-three year old Thomas Richard Lagano is a guest at the Cobb County, GA, jail, after police blocked traffic on busy Interstate 75 at the height of the afternoon rush hour in a futile search for him on November 8. According to reports, Lagano held up a branch of Wachovia Bank in Cobb County, where a teller slipped a GPS device into Lagano's bag of loot.

Lagano was tracked to I-75, where the GPS stopped working. Police blockaded southbound lanes of the highway and completed a fruitless car-by-car search, angering thousands of commuters. While the Cobb County Police spokesman dealt with the press and scores of internet blog attacks concerning the traffic fiasco, investigators linked Lagano to the robbery through a fingerprint at the bank.

When Lagano's grandparents learned that police were looking for him, they convinced him to surrender. Lagano turned himself in to Jasper County police on Saturday, November 10.

First published on BankersOnline.com 11/15/2007