Bank Robbery

Oct 1 2012

A man with a lengthy criminal record was sentenced today to 150 years to life behind bars for robbing four banks -- one of them twice.

POMONA, CALIF.  Jerry Lee Franklin, 40, was on parole when he was arrested in April after leading police on a freeway chase. He had three prior serious felony convictions, including drug trafficking with the use of a firearm.
He pleaded no contest to second-degree robbery charges stemming from holdups at U.S. Bank in Hacienda Heights on July 6, 2011; Bank of the West in Rowland Heights on July 12, 2011, and then again on Jan. 11; at a Citibank in Rowland Heights on Jan. 14; and at the First Federal Credit Union in West Covina on April 23.

Sep 14 2012

One suspect still at large

SAN FERNANDO, Calif.—Prosecutors were preparing charges today against three men accused of robbing a Bank of America branch in Canyon Country and leading sheriff’s deputies on a wild chase in which stolen money was tossed from the windows of an SUV in South Los Angeles.

Phillip Nathaniel Ely, 29; Lavelle Lee Mosley, 22; and Terion Lamarr Collins, 25, were expected to be arraigned this afternoon in San Fernando Superior Court, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

A fourth man was still being sought.

Sep 13 2012

Crowd gathers as money is flung from car windows

A group of people who allegedly robbed a Bank of America in Santa Clarita led sheriff’s deputies on a wild chase Wednesday that sparked a circus-like atmosphere in South Los Angeles, where the suspects tossed money out of their SUV, prompting residents to run into streets and crowd around deputies as the suspects were arrested.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.