More sought in ATM heist

The search continued today for more suspects involved in a 2-week-old million-dollar robbery of a Bank of America ATM repository.

Four people were arrested Thursday in connection with the robbery and a fifth person was arrested for interfering with arresting officers.

"We know there are more suspects, we just don't know how many," said Bobby Siller, former special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office who retired Friday.

Investigators had been working on the case nonstop since the ATM vault was robbed of at least $1 million late in the night on Dec. 21. The FBI and police said they believe the heist was carried out by the same people involved in a bank robbery earlier in the day at the Colonial Bank, 7451 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

An estimated $79,000 was taken in the daring daylight robbery.

The case broke wide open sometime Wednesday afternoon with a tip from an unidentified person who may be in line for a $50,000 rewarded offered by Bank of America and Loomis Fargo armored carrier service, FBI investigators said.

A Bank of America spokesman said the reward was the largest the bank had ever offered.

The robbery was one of the biggest in city history. The largest occurred in 1984 when almost $3 million was taken in a bank robbery. Three people were arrested in that case.

Arrests were made in the ATM repository robbery between 10 p.m. Wednesday and 5 a.m Thursday.

Authorities said most of the money was recovered.

Four Las Vegas residents made initial appearances in federal district court Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Roger Hunt.

They will be arraigned Jan. 13 at 1 p.m.

Two of them -- Robert Arthur Bates, 26, and Timothy Lee Blackburn, 25 -- were described by Siller as ring-leaders and were charged with robbery and aiding and abetting. They were ordered held without bond.

Two others -- Robert Bates' brother Riley Aruda Bates, 24, and Naomi Lynn Stachowsky, 22 -- are charged with being accessories and possessing stolen bank funds.

Hunt ordered Riley Bates and Stachowsky released on personal recognizance bonds and placed on an electronic monitoring system. They also must find work and submit to random drug tests and searches.

A fifth person, Selma Feila-Lim, 20, will face state charges related to interfering with the arrest of Blackburn, according to Siller.

More charges could be filed, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Zlotnick said.

Most of the money taken from the ATM repository is believed to have been recovered, found in various locations stuffed in bushel bags, officials said.

Robert Bates was arrested at the Luxor, where investigators say more than $5,000 in cash, a number of weapons and drugs were found in a room he had been staying in for several days.

Zlotnick noted during Robert Bates' arraignment that his arrest comes while he is on parole for other felony crimes.

In arguing that Bates should be held without bond, Zlotnick said the defendant was armed with a shotgun and other weapons when he kidnapped several people as part of the scheme to rob the ATM repository.

"He has a serious criminal history," Zlotnick told the federal magistrate. "He failed to register as an ex-felon, and there was a warrant out for his arrest for parole violation."

Blackburn was arrested after leading authorities on a brief chase from his home.

Blackburn fled from officers, Zlotnick told the magistrate, leaping a back fence and jumping into a car driven by Feila-Lim.

The car attempted to run over FBI agents, he added.

After the car was stopped during a brief chase, Zlotnick said, Blackburn attempted to flee on foot and was stopped by a police dog.

A substantial amount of cash was found in a dog house in the back yard of Blackburn's residence, and flex cuffs, the type used in the repository robbery, were found in a washing machine, Zlotnick said.

Riley Bates and Naomi Stachowsky were arrested at a mobile home they shared with Robert Bates. Several bags of money were found in the residence.

Zlotnick said authorities believe one more robbery was planned before the suspects left this jurisdiction.

Investigators declined to release information about the four people arrested last week, however, some details were made public by Zlotnick as he discussed with the magistrate the character of the suspects and whether they should be allowed to be released pending the out-come of their cases.

Blackburn, who also was described as a danger to the community, is considered a flight risk, Zlotnick said.

However, Blackburn's court-appointed defense attorney, Karen Connolly, said her client has lived in Las Vegas 16 years, is married with two children and is buying a home and therefore was not a flight risk.

Zlotnick said Naomi Stachowsky is a young woman with an unstable work history, employed at various times at "various dance establishments."

He said she is a mother who shares custody of her child with the child's father.

He also said she admitted to drug and alcohol abuse.

Zlotnick said her involvement in the robbery was that she "shielded the other perpetrators."

He said the same for Riley Bates, Robert's younger brother who has lived in Las Vegas for 10 years.

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