NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF KANSAS

JOHN F. WOOD

FEBRUARY 11, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEDERAL CHARGES FILED IN PRAIRIE VILLAGE BANK ROBBERY

KANSAS CITY, KAN. - Gregory E. Abercrombie, 23, Kansas City, Mo., will appear today in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., on a charge of armed bank robbery.

Abercrombie is charged with the Feb. 8, 2008, robbery of Team Bank, 5206 W. 95th Street, Prairie Village , Kan.

A criminal complaint filed Friday alleges that Abercrombie was one of two masked gunmen who entered the bank at about 10:20 a.m. on Feb. 8. One of the robbers vaulted the teller counter and ordered an employee to open the vault. The robber told the employee, "If you don't hurry up, I'll kill you."

Officers responding to the bank alarm pursued a gray Honda Accord seen leaving the bank. They followed the car from Prairie Village to Kansas City, Mo., where the driver got out and fled on foot while the passenger took the wheel of the car and drove away. Abercrombie was arrested after a foot pursuit that ended behind a residence near the intersection of 97th Street and Madison in Kansas City, Mo. He had red dye and burn marks caused by dye packs bank employees added to the money they gave the robbers.

If convicted, Abercrombie faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
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The Prairie Village Police Department, the Overland Park Police Department, the Leawood Police Department, the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation worked on the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tris Hunt is prosecuting.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at
www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html