Watch CBS News

Getaway Driver Pleads Guilty To Two Baltimore Bank Robberies In 2019

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore man pleaded guilty Thursday to being the getaway driver in connection with two armed bank robberies last year.

According to his guilty plea, Richard Adams, 59, drove his armed co-defendants, who were wearing masks and gloves, in a gray rental car to a bank in the 3600 block of Boston Street on January 23.

When they entered, the robbers told everyone to put their hands up and one of the robbers approached the teller, pointed a gun at her and demanded $100 dollar bills and "loose bills." The other robber held the customers and other bank employees at gunpoint in the lobby area of the bank, the plea said.

Soon after the teller handed over the cash, the robbers ran away through an adjacent parking lot and accidentally dropped more than $5,000 in cash. The duo then got into Adams' rental car and fled the area, officials said.

On February 1, Adams drove the two in his 2006 Chevy Monte Carlo to a bank in the 2900 block of O'Donnell Street.

When they entered the bank, robbers pointed their firearms at the tellers and demanded money. A teller gave the robbers money from the bank's vault equipped with a GPS tracker before they fled the bank in Adam's car, the plea said.

When police responded to the robbery, they were provided with the GPS tracking information that led them to find and detain Adams and his co-defendants, who were still inside the getaway car, officials said.

When officers searched the robbers and the car, they recovered two firearms, a blue backpack containing the stolen cash and a GPS tracking device.

Later that day, officers executed a search at Adams' residence where they recovered clothing and a leather duffel bag used during the first robbery.

Adams faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison for aiding and abetting armed bank robbery as well as a minimum mandatory sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum of life in federal prison for aiding and abetting the brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence.

He is scheduled sentencing for April 27, 2020, at 3:00 p.m. and his co-defendants are scheduled to go to trial on June 1, 2020.

All three defendants remain in custody.


Written By WJZ Apprentice Ju'waun Morgan

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.