Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Man robs Las Vegas bank at gunpoint, takes 3 hostages, is captured

Suspect

METRO POLICE

This man is seen on a surveillance image from the WestStar Credit Union branch at 110 Harmon Ave., Tuesday, July 25, 2017.

Updated Tuesday, July 25, 2017 | 10:30 p.m.

An armed man who robbed a bank just east of the Strip on Tuesday evening took three hostages, who’ve since been released, according to Metro Police.

Metro late Tuesday identified the suspect as William Ethridge.

Ethridge was arrested without further incident inside the Las Vegas Harley-Davidson store on the Strip, police said.

The robber entered the WestStar Credit Union branch at 110 Harmon Ave., near Las Vegas Boulevard South, about 5:20 p.m. and demanded cash, police said.

The man then took a teller hostage, left the bank and carjacked a vehicle with two victims, making them drive him to the motorcycle store near Las Vegas Boulevard and Russell Road, police said.

The victims called police, who have a substation nearby, and officers responded to the store where he was arrested, Metro spokesman Officer Jay Rivera said in a briefing broadcast online, adding that this was a “very unusual type of robbery.”

Ethridge is expected to be booked on counts of robbery, kidnapping and vehicle theft, Rivera said.