Weatherford bank robbery goes south for suspect
WEATHERFORD, Texas - Weatherford police released video of officers capturing a suspected bank robber.
Police said they received a call for an armed robbery at Citizens National Bank on Santa Fe Drive on Tuesday.
Investigators said 29-year-old Hyung Heo, of Lewisville, showed up at the bank with an elaborate plan and a fake gun.
"It was later determined it was a pellet gun. He admitted to painting it black and using tape to cover up the markings that would’ve shown that it wasn’t a real weapon," Weatherford PD Officer Tiffany Van Zant said.
Police said Heo jumped over the counter inside the bank and threatened workers with the weapon, before running off with more than $23,000.
The responding officers had little to go on, but they knew the area.
Officers began searching the area for the suspect and found a man matching the robber's description in a creek bed.
He tried to take off on foot, but police arrested him.
"A couple of them were pretty familiar with the area and knew there was a creek bed nearby that ran underneath the roadway right there by the bank. They were able to look down in there, and from there, they saw a male who happen to actually be wearing wading like fishing boots, but matched the clothing descriptions," Van Zant said. "After they represented themselves as police officers and asked him to stop, he took off running."
Investigators found that the suspect had a change of clothes and wader boots that he had staged in the creek bed.
The same creek that led straight to an area near the Weatherford Police Department.
Police also discovered that the suspect's getaway car was four miles away from the bank, and that he walked down railroad tracks to the bank in order to avoid detection.
The suspect was trying to walk back to his car when officers spotted him.
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Heo was captured wearing a backpack that contained the cash and the fake firearm.
"Everybody was there kind of waiting to intercept him when he ran in that creek bed. There’s only one direction to go, so they were all waiting once he got there. Also, he later admitted he could hear the dog barking and stuff like that, and he didn’t want to get bit by the dog, so he layed down and gave up at that point," Van Zant said.
Officers recovered all $23,000 in stolen money.