Throughout 2018, the Colorado Springs Police Department’s (CSPD) Robbery Unit investigated a pattern of bank robberies. Several arrests were made as a result of their efforts. One of those robberies occurred at the TCF Bank located at 3175 East Platte Avenue in November of 2018. 29-year-old Chad Williams of Colorado Springs was contacted and arrested shortly after the robbery occurred. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of several thousand dollars. In January of 2019, Williams posted a $100,000 bond.
On March 22, 2019, the Academy Bank located at 2835 Briargate Boulevard was robbed. On May 7, 2019, the Key Bank, 3085 South Academy Boulevard, was robbed. Detectives noted a similar manner in which all these robberies were completed and the similarity of the suspect description.
On September 11, 2020, the Academy Bank located at 2835 Briargate Boulevard was robbed again by two males. The manner of the robbery and physical description of one of the suspects was the same as the robbery that occurred on March 22, 2019. A victim stated that one of the suspects was the same suspect as the previous robbery. Based on the ongoing investigation into all of these robberies, detectives suspected Williams as one of the suspects in this robbery and the two robberies mentioned above that occurred in 2019.
On September 15, 2020 CSPD Robbery Unit detectives found a link between Williams and 32-year-old Lawrence Wooten of Colorado Springs. Through the continued efforts of investigators, they identified Wooten as the second suspect in the robbery of Academy Bank that occurred on September 11, 2020.
On September 21, 2020, CSPD Robbery Detectives were made aware of a bank robbery that occurred in Fountain, Colorado and noticed similarities with the September 11 bank robbery at Academy Bank. Robbery Detectives from CSPD contacted and worked collaboratively with the Fountain Police Department to more efficiently investigate this new emerging pattern with their investigators.
On September 22, CSPD robbery detectives applied for and obtained an arrest warrant for Wooten in his role in the September 11 bank robbery. Later that evening, Chad Williams turned himself in at the El Paso County Jail for failing to appear for a court hearing in regards to the 2018 bank robbery and a motor vehicle theft.
On September 23, CSPD detectives located a vehicle that used in one of the robberies and conducted a surveillance operation at the HomeTowne Studios located at 3490 Afternoon Circle. With the assistance of members of the CSPD’s Tactical Enforcement Unit, Wooten was located and apprehended after a short foot pursuit during that surveillance operation. Wooten was in possession of several thousand dollars in cash and later booked into the El Paso County Jail. That afternoon, CSPD detectives applied for and obtained an arrest warrant with a $500,000 bond for Williams charging him with the two 2019 bank robberies as well as the September 11 bank robbery in Colorado Springs. The warrant was served on Williams at the El Paso County Jail where he remains in custody.
On September 24, both Williams and Wooten were charged by the Fountain Police Department with the bank robbery that occurred in Fountain, Colorado on September 21.