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| ��Officials from the Shawnee police department and Oklahoma Highway Patrol begin their search Thursday for two men suspected of robbing a Shawnee Bank. One suspect was arrested early Friday and the other reportedly surrendered to police later that day. Eric Knoles/SNS |
By PAULA niBRIDE
The Oklahoma City men are suspects in the Thursday afternoon robbery of a Shawnee bank.
Kevin Collins, 26, apparently grew tired of hiding in the weeds and brush near U.S. 177 just north of EW 111 and simply stood up and put his hands in the air, said OHP public information officer Lt. Stewart Meyer. He was taken into custody about two miles from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's mobile command post.
"He walked toward the trooper, and the apprehension went without a problem," Meyer said. The suspect was wearing a pair of black shorts and no shirt, Meyer added, and was not carrying any weapons.
"At 6:45 p.m., we'd had a couple of leads, and we'd pulled some people out to look over on Kickapoo (Street), but we maintained the perimeter," Meyer said. "I'd say he probably got hungry and tired of hiding in the bushes."
Collins' brother, Jason Collins, 19, was found by officials and taken into custody about 5 a.m. Friday. He was also unarmed at the time of his arrest.
According to records, two men entered the American National Bank, 4500 N. Harrison, at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, taking an undisclosed amount of cash at gunpoint.
The suspects were chased by a Shawnee police detective to a rural area northwest of Shawnee. They abandoned their vehicle in a field on a dead-end road and ran into the trees.
Law enforcement officials established a perimeter around a square mile area, using tactical police units and aircraft equipped with heat sensing devices to search the interior. Troopers and Pottawatomie County sheriff deputies patrolled the roads.
Meyer declined to disclose either the amount of money taken during the robbery or whether any other weapons had been found.
However, "the possibility exists that a portion of the money may have been recovered," he added.
Shawnee News-Star reporter Jeff Billington contributed to this report.
SNS Staff Writer
The subject of an intense law enforcement manhunt surrendered to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Friday evening, about 13 hours after his brother was apprehended in the same area.