RIVERTON, Utah, May 27, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A suspect who attempted to rob a Riverton bank then made a bomb threat Monday morning is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on one count of threat of terrorism and two counts of aggravated robbery.
Unified Police Department spokesman Lt. Lex Bell said Douglas McEwan, 61, is suspected of attempting to rob the Wells Fargo Bank at 1750 W. 12600 South, at approximately 9:10 a.m. Monday.
“It sounds like our suspect came in, forced the teller, had some sort of a deposit bag,” Bell said. “He opened it and showed them a device, and said, ‘This is a bomb, this will go off if you guys don’t do everything you’re supposed to do. While one teller dealt with him, another teller saw what was happening and was able to call us, without him knowing, and provided us information.” The suspect also displayed a handgun, Bell said.
Bell said officers got to the area before the suspect left the building, and with the good description provided by the teller, the suspect was arrested in the parking lot just northwest of the bank.
“When he was arrested he didn’t put up a fight,” said Bell. “He was in possession of U.S. currency. We did not find the bag that was described. We learned from the tellers inside that he had left it stashed in the bank, and told them it would go off if something happens.”
Officials then evacuated the bank as well as the entire complex on the northwest corner of 12600 S. Redwood Road. Bank employees, one of whom was having a panic attack and another who is pregnant, were checked by fire crews as a precaution.
K-9 Units checked vehicles in the parking lot and made sure there were no secondary devices, Bell said.
At noon, the bomb squad gave the all-clear at the bank, and took down the perimeter.
The suspect’s vehicle was found in the parking lot, and bomb squads cleared the vehicle, cleared the parking lot, then went inside and were able to clear the bank and the package. Bell said it appears there was some sort of electronic device in the package that looked similar to what may have been an improvised explosive device.
Bell said that multiple federal agencies responded, as well as Unified Fire Authority and other police departments.
McEwan is in the Salt Lake County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
