FBI continues search for robbery suspect

Fugitive Timothy Blackburn was still on the run this morning and authorities are beginning to wonder if he is still in the Las Vegas area.

"The reward is out there, but we haven't gotten any significant information so that may be an indication (Blackburn and his family) aren't still here," said FBI Special Agent Kevin Caudle.

Caudle said two local banks and the FBI are offering $10,000 for information leading to the capture of the suspected bank repository robber. Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 385-1281.

While the FBI and Metro Police haven't yet received the break they need, the agencies have received a number of tips.

Someone called Metro at 3 a.m. Saturday with a false report that Blackburn's wife was at a friend's home, Caudle said. The woman in question has no known ties to the Blackburn family.

The Metro Police SWAT team also responded to what amounted to a false alarm at Mount Charleston Friday afternoon.

The pilot of a Metro helicopter patrolling over Mount Charleston spotted a Nissan sport utility vehicle that matched the description of the car owned by Blackburn.

"We called in SWAT because we were trying to apprehend someone who is considered armed and very dangerous," department spokesman Steve Meriwether said. "There was no cover out where the vehicle was parked, so the only way we'd approach it was with the SWAT team." For more than an hour SWAT moved in on the car before learning that it wasn't Blackburn's.

Police believe Blackburn, 25, is with his wife, two children and a male friend.

It was the third false sighting of Blackburn since he escaped from the North Las Vegas Detention Center on Aug. 11.

Blackburn was scheduled to go on trial Oct. 13 for the robbery of $1 million from the Bank of America ATM repository at 4215 E. Charleston.

archive