TACOMA – A Virginia man has pleaded guilty to armed robbery and brandishing a machine gun in a takeover-style bank robbery in Tacoma in which five men were arrested – three of them members of an elite Army Ranger unit based at nearby Fort Lewis.
Army Ranger Chad Palmer, 21, of Norfolk, Va., pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in the Aug. 7 robbery of a Bank of America branch. Sentencing was scheduled for March 2.
According to documents filed in the case, prosecutors allege that Army Ranger Luke E. Sommer, 20, recruited Palmer, Ranger Alex M. Blum and two Canadians – Tigra J.A. Robertson and Nathan R. Dunmall – to participate in the robbery.
At a meeting Aug. 6, prosecutors said in a news release, Sommer provided Palmer with a loaded fully automatic AK-47 machine gun and other conspirators with loaded semiautomatic handguns. The men wore soft body armor to protect themselves in case of a shoot-out with police.
Sommer proposed that Palmer throw a hand grenade at police if officers arrived during the robbery, but Palmer rejected the suggestion, the release said. Sommer told Palmer he wanted to use proceeds of the robbery to start a crime family to rival the Hells Angels in British Columbia, prosecutors alleged.
The robbery took about 90 seconds. The men are alleged to have entered the bank in black masks and military garb. They ordered the tellers to turn over their money and open the vault, and escaped with more than $50,000.
A bystander spotted the license plate of their car and reported it to police. The car was traced to Fort Lewis, where evidence of the crime was uncovered at the men’s barracks.
Trial for Robertson, 20, of Kelowna, B.C., and Blum, who was arrested in Denver, is scheduled for Jan. 29.
Sommer, 20, arrested in Peachland, B.C., and Dunmall are fighting extradition from Canada.
Palmer was arrested in Chesapeake, Va.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mike Dion and Jill Otake.
Blum, Sommer and Palmer each hold the rank of private first class and are attached to “C” Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, according to charging papers.
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