The U.S. marshals and other law enforcement agencies are searching for an aging bank robber who they say is back in action 20 years after he hit his biggest payday.
In May 1989 Gary LaTray and another man tied up two armored car guards outside of Syracuse, N.Y., piled millions in cash into a U-Haul truck and took off. They eventually traded the truck for hired limos. Their chauffeurs drove them to the District and LaTray met a prostitute. After a brief trip to New York to pick up more women, LaTray and Timothy DeMarc directed their limos to Virginia Beach, where the FBI caught up to them.
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LaTray, now 50, spent the next 18 years in prison. Upon his release, he vowed he was reformed. “I told myself, ‘You’re going to have one shot when you get out,’ ” the Post-Standard in Syracuse reported.
But in June, LaTray broke his parole and has been on the lam since, the U.S. Marshals Office said.
Authorities say he’s suspected in robberies in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Garrett County, Md., where he’s accused of robbing a shoe store on Nov. 20.
On Dec. 1, police say LaTray walked into a SunTrust Bank at 1300 S. Main St. in Harrisonburg, Va., claimed to be carrying a bomb and demanded cash.
The hoax worked, and LaTray escaped the scene with a bag of cash, police said. Bank employees and customers evacuated the bank. No one was injured.
LaTray is wanted on charges of robbery, possessing a hoax bomb, and making a bomb threat.
He’s believed to be driving a four-door gray Hyundai, police said. The Post-Standard reported that LaTray stole the car from his niece.
Anyone with information about LaTray’s whereabouts should call Crime Solvers at 540-574-5050.
