PEARLAND, Texas – A third suspect was arrested Tuesday in connection with a New Year’s Eve bank robbery in Pearland.
Police said Wydell Alvin Johnson, 17, was booked into the Pearland City Jail and charged with a single count of aggravated robbery Tuesday morning.
According to investigators, Johnson was one of four suspects in a robbery at a Chase Bank on North Main Street in which 10 people were taken hostage.
Two other suspects, 29-year-old Raymond Johnson and 39-year-old Samuel Bonner, were arrested at the scene of the crime. They were charged with 13 counts of aggravated robbery and were being held on $13 million bond each.
Witnesses told police the masked suspects arrived in a dark pickup truck and ran inside around 11 a.m. There were five employees and five customers in the bank at the time.
Police said the suspects injured the bank manager when he refused to open the vault.
As officers arrived at the scene, two of the suspects ran outside, exchanging gunfire with police.
They fled the scene in the pickup.
Police said Raymond Johnson tried to run out the back door of the bank, but he was caught in a nearby Walmart parking lot.
Bonner remained inside the bank with the hostages for five hours before he surrendered.
Wydell Johnson was being held Wednesday on $1 million bond.
Pearland police said Wydell Johnson is the nephew of Bonner and a student at Richard Milburn Academy.
According to its website, Richard Milburn Academy is a “public charter high school for students who have not been successful in a traditional public high school setting.”
Police said the fourth suspect was still at large Wednesday.
(via khou.com)
