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2 soldiers charged in bank robberies

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Police have charged two Fort Bragg soldiers with robberies at two Fayetteville banks.

The Fayetteville Observer reported Friday that the 82nd Airborne Division soldiers were charged with a robbery Tuesday and one Dec. 22.

Fayetteville police spokeswoman Theresa Chance said the suspects were being questioned after they were arrested Wednesday and confessed to the earlier robbery. Chance said the case was being taken over by the FBI and the 82nd Airborne said it was cooperating with investigators.

The suspects were identified by police as Pvt. Kali Eloi Robinson, 24, of Powder Springs, Ga., and Pvt. Christopher Bernard Jackson, 22, of Conyer, Ga. They have been charged with robberies of different Fayetteville branches of RBC Centura Bank. Neither has an attorney listed, according to the Cumberland County court clerk’s office.

Both soldiers are members of the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, and are petroleum supply specialists, the 82nd Airborne said. Robinson joined the Army in February 2008 and Jackson joined in April 2007.

Chance said it was the second set of bank robbery charges against Fort Bragg soldiers by Fayetteville authorities.

Three soldiers and one of their wives were charged last month in a federal indictment with attempted robbery of a Fayetteville bank the day after Thanksgiving. The indictment accused the group of stealing a shotgun and ammunition from a car and meeting to prepare for a robbery.

Chance said she couldn’t speculate why soldiers were accused of bank robbery and noted it was rare in Fayetteville’s criminal history.