Ex-soldiers held in bank robbery near Campbell - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Ex-soldiers held in bank robbery near Campbell

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Two former soldiers recently released from the stockade were in custody Thursday night in connection with an armed robbery at a Clarksville branch of U.S. Bank.

Edwin Collazo-Hernandez, 31, of Dupont, Wash., was booked into Montgomery County Jail and charged with aggravated robbery. A second suspect, Obryant Elijah Davis, 31, was awaiting transport and booking.

According to a police report, the two men walked into the bank about 8:52 a.m. Thursday with handguns. They were wearing gloves and camouflage clothing, with their faces partially covered.

After removing money from the bank drawers, the robbers ordered bank employees into the vault, police said.

They then left the bank in a black GMC Envoy with tinted windows and a luggage rack. According to police, the Envoy was stopped several miles away on Interstate 24. The Envoy, driven by Collazo-Hernandez, belongs to Davis’ grandparents.

Clothing similar to that worn during the robbery was found in the SUV, as was a black semi-automatic handgun, police said. Collazo-Hernandez was wearing military pants when the SUV was stopped.

Police followed leads and tracked down Davis to a hotel on Brick Church Pike in Nashville. A Metro Police Department officer and a member of the FBI conducted surveillance on Davis and his car until Detectives Eric Ewing and Stephen Holman arrived from Clarksville.

The detectives found several bags inside of Davis' car, one of them containing cash. Davis was transported back to Clarksville by detectives.

No one was injured in the robbery and no customers were inside the bank at the time.

The men were recently released from the Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Fort Leavenworth, according to Rebecca Steed, a Fort Leavenworth spokeswoman. Davis served six months on larceny charges and Collazo-Hernandez served 15 months on drug charges, she said.

The men were released to the Fort Sill, Okla., Personnel Control Facility, where they were awaiting an automatic appeal of their dishonorable discharges, said Keith Pannell, a Sill spokesman. During their appeal, they were allowed to return to their homes, Pannell said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.