Documents: Robbery suspects planned to split $23K stolen from bank

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Federal court documents show three bank robbery suspects planned to evenly split the nearly $23,000 they stole from an east Charlotte bank.

The documents were filed in federal court Tuesday, the same day FBI agents charged George Rinnix, Jr., Tiffani Robinson and Cory Talbert with federal bank robbery and gun crimes.

The three will face a federal judge for a detention hearing on Friday.

In an affidavit, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department detective said Robinson dropped off Rinnix and Talbert at the First Citizens Bank on Albemarle Road on Sept. 11 just after the doors opened.

Authorities said the two men wore gloves, hats and homemade masks when they walked inside and held the bank manager at gunpoint.

According to court records, the suspects forced the manager and another employee to the bank vault where they ordered the manager to toss out the "dye pack" and fill a bag with money.

After, detectives said Rinnix and Talbert ordered both workers to the floor, face down, and bound their hands with zip-ties.

The affidavit also revealed how police were able to quickly follow the suspects escape, despite the fact they stole the bank manager's car, ditched it a short distance later, and caught another ride with Robinson, who was waiting nearby.

Authorities said the money taken from the vault had a GPS monitoring device hidden inside it, and the signal allowed a CMPD helicopter to easily follow the suspect vehicle, even during a high-speed chase where police said the suspects tossed out a bag of clothes and two bags of cash totaling nearly $23,000.

When Robinson wrecked her car, ending the chase, police said they took the suspects into custody and two of them confessed to the crime, according to court documents.

All three remain in federal custody.

WSOC