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Investigative work leads to capture of Early Bird Bandit in Spring
By STEFANIE THOMAS
An electronic tracking device and persistent police work led Humble Police Department investigators to the door of a bank robbery suspect accused of holding up Woodforest National Bank inside Wal-Mart in Humble in the early morning hours of Aug. 20.
Five days after the crime, 42-year-old Dontel Givens, dubbed the Early Bird Bandit, was arrested at his mother’s apartment in the Spring area.
“When [Givens] robbed the bank, the tellers put a tracker in with the money,” said Humble PD Detective Duke Caruthers. “The tracker emits a GPS signal and we tracked it for about two and a half hours after the robbery, then it went out.”
Caruthers said that officers were able to trace the signal, which pinpoints a location within 100 yards of the transmitter, to The Woods of Inverness, an apartment complex where FM 1960 meets the Hardy Toll Road in northwest Harris County, but that’s where the beeping stopped.
The longevity of tracking devices such as the one used by the bank tellers varies according to how much charge they hold, Caruthers said. Some of them last for five hours, he said, but the one they were trying to follow either lost its power or was destroyed.
Later in the day, Humble PD officers went back to The Woods of Inverness to look for leads but came back empty-handed. The following day, Caruthers himself, along with Humble PD Detective Eric Squier and two FBI Bank Robbery Task Force agents once again returned to the apartment complex. And again, they found nothing.
But the third time was a charm. When Caruthers and Squier went back Aug. 25 they spotted a car that matched the description of the suspect’s vehicle, as shown on surveillance video from the bank robbery.
“On the surveillance tape the right taillight had a white light where it should have been red,” Caruthers said. “When we took a closer look at the car we saw in The Woods of Inverness parking lot, we saw that the right taillight had been broken. That’s why it emitted a white light.”
The two detectives began talking to neighbors and were directed to the apartment where they believed the owner of the car lived.
“We met with the occupants of the apartment. On of them was the suspect and one was the actual owner of the vehicle,” Caruthers said. “Upon seeing the suspect, we almost immediately recognized him as the subject in the surveillance video.”
The detectives interviewed both men and received some basic information, then left the apartment but stayed where they could keep an eye on it and monitor any comings and goings. Then they contacted FBI Bank Robbery Task Force Special Agent Mundor, who arrived a short time later.
“We obtained permission from Givens’ mother, who was leasing the apartment, and the owner of the vehicle to search both the residence and the vehicle,” Caruthers said. “[Givens] was standing right there, getting very nervous.”
As the detectives looked through the car and searched the apartment, Givens approached Squier and asked him what they were looking for.
“Detective Squier advised him we were looking for the hat and shirt worn during the robbery,” Caruthers said. “All of a sudden, Givens said, ‘I threw away the hat and I don’t know what I did with the shirt, so let’s just get out of here.’ When we took him outside, he said, ‘I knew you would be coming for me.’”
Givens was taken to the Humble Police Department where he gave a full confession on tape, Caruthers said. He was booked into Harris County Jail where he is being held on a $40,000 bond on a felony charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.
“Givens told us he didn’t actually have a gun,” Caruthers said. “But during the robbery he reached down into his pants like he had one.”
Givens has a criminal history in New York and Illinois that includes narcotics offenses, theft and aggravated battery, and harm of a merchant and retail theft, which would be considered robbery in Texas, according to Caruthers.
“This investigation went really well, with us working with the bank robbery task force,” Caruthers said. “Just good old persistence.”
Five days after the crime, 42-year-old Dontel Givens, dubbed the Early Bird Bandit, was arrested at his mother’s apartment in the Spring area.
“When [Givens] robbed the bank, the tellers put a tracker in with the money,” said Humble PD Detective Duke Caruthers. “The tracker emits a GPS signal and we tracked it for about two and a half hours after the robbery, then it went out.”
Caruthers said that officers were able to trace the signal, which pinpoints a location within 100 yards of the transmitter, to The Woods of Inverness, an apartment complex where FM 1960 meets the Hardy Toll Road in northwest Harris County, but that’s where the beeping stopped.
The longevity of tracking devices such as the one used by the bank tellers varies according to how much charge they hold, Caruthers said. Some of them last for five hours, he said, but the one they were trying to follow either lost its power or was destroyed.
Later in the day, Humble PD officers went back to The Woods of Inverness to look for leads but came back empty-handed. The following day, Caruthers himself, along with Humble PD Detective Eric Squier and two FBI Bank Robbery Task Force agents once again returned to the apartment complex. And again, they found nothing.
But the third time was a charm. When Caruthers and Squier went back Aug. 25 they spotted a car that matched the description of the suspect’s vehicle, as shown on surveillance video from the bank robbery.
“On the surveillance tape the right taillight had a white light where it should have been red,” Caruthers said. “When we took a closer look at the car we saw in The Woods of Inverness parking lot, we saw that the right taillight had been broken. That’s why it emitted a white light.”
The two detectives began talking to neighbors and were directed to the apartment where they believed the owner of the car lived.
“We met with the occupants of the apartment. On of them was the suspect and one was the actual owner of the vehicle,” Caruthers said. “Upon seeing the suspect, we almost immediately recognized him as the subject in the surveillance video.”
The detectives interviewed both men and received some basic information, then left the apartment but stayed where they could keep an eye on it and monitor any comings and goings. Then they contacted FBI Bank Robbery Task Force Special Agent Mundor, who arrived a short time later.
“We obtained permission from Givens’ mother, who was leasing the apartment, and the owner of the vehicle to search both the residence and the vehicle,” Caruthers said. “[Givens] was standing right there, getting very nervous.”
As the detectives looked through the car and searched the apartment, Givens approached Squier and asked him what they were looking for.
“Detective Squier advised him we were looking for the hat and shirt worn during the robbery,” Caruthers said. “All of a sudden, Givens said, ‘I threw away the hat and I don’t know what I did with the shirt, so let’s just get out of here.’ When we took him outside, he said, ‘I knew you would be coming for me.’”
Givens was taken to the Humble Police Department where he gave a full confession on tape, Caruthers said. He was booked into Harris County Jail where he is being held on a $40,000 bond on a felony charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.
“Givens told us he didn’t actually have a gun,” Caruthers said. “But during the robbery he reached down into his pants like he had one.”
Givens has a criminal history in New York and Illinois that includes narcotics offenses, theft and aggravated battery, and harm of a merchant and retail theft, which would be considered robbery in Texas, according to Caruthers.
“This investigation went really well, with us working with the bank robbery task force,” Caruthers said. “Just good old persistence.”
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Irate Deputy wrote on Aug 28, 2008 10:03 PM: