Money flies as authorities nab Northland robbery suspects

A Northland bank heist ended Thursday with cash drifting through the air and one man allegedly telling law enforcement, “I want you to know I robbed the bank due to money pressures from my girlfriends.”

The robbery at the Bank of America branch at U.S. 169 and Englewood Road occurred at 10:45 a.m. There were no reports of weapons displayed or injuries.

Federal prosecutors charged Edward L. Green, 24, Robert Lowe, 26, and Rolando Winters, 24, all of Kansas City, with stealing $5,863.

Members of the FBI’s fugitive task force received advance information about a robbery and had secretly followed the suspects to the bank, according to the criminal complaint.

The alleged getaway car driver, identified in court documents as Green, was arrested without incident.

Authorities said Lowe and Winters were chased as they left the bank. A task force member circled around a nearby apartment building and cut off the men, who ran into his moving truck.

The impact resulted in the cash scattering into the air and fluttering to the ground, witnesses said. One man was flung into a tree, and the second rolled off the truck’s hood onto the ground. The second man got up and started running again but was soon arrested.

Winters, according to an FBI affidavit, volunteered the statement about money troubles and girlfriends. The affidavit alleges he also said: “I’m going to get a tattoo of a Nissan emblem so I can remember when I robbed a bank.”

The two men arrested after the pursuit were taken to hospitals for treatment.

Police said they were investigating possible ties between the holdup and previous robberies of a bank and other businesses.