Suspect in Custody, Hostages Safe After St. Cloud Bank Robbery
A still image from WCCO-TV livestream video shows law enforcement at the scene of a Wells Fargo branch in St. Cloud after a robbery and hostage situation on Thursday, May 6, 2021.
A still image from WCCO-TV livestream video shows law enforcement at the scene of a Wells Fargo branch in St. Cloud after a robbery and hostage situation on Thursday, May 6, 2021.
A still image taken from KSTP-TV livestream video shows a hostage being freed from a Wells Fargo bank branch in St. Cloud after a robbery Thursday, May 6, 2021.
A still image taken from a FOX9 livestream video shows FBI negotiators delivering a pizza to a bank robbery suspect in St. Cloud on Thursday,. May 6, 2021.
Authorities were at the scene of a bank robbery and hostage situation at a Wells Fargo bank branch in St. Cloud, Minn., for more than eight hours on Thursday afternoon and into the evening.
They took the suspect into custody by 10:30 p.m. after four hostages were released and a final hostage leapt to safety. A law enforcement team swarmed the front of the building after the last hostage was safe and apprehended the suspect, who was identified by officials as Ray Reco McNeary, 35, of St. Cloud.
UPDATE: Man Facing Federal Charge After St. Cloud Bank Robbery, Hostage-Taking
St. Cloud police said the first report of the robbery came in around 1:50 p.m., and a Wells Fargo spokesperson said that hostages were taken by the suspect. Five people—all employees—were held hostage by McNeary, who reportedly brandished a weapon during the robbery.
The apparent suspect in a bank robbery and hostage situation in St. Cloud, seen through the front glass window of the Wells Fargo.
St. Cloud police said that there were no confirmed reports of injuries and agents with the FBI were assisting SCPD and Sherburne County sheriff's deputies. Four hostages in total had made it safely out of the bank by just after 8 p.m., with one still inside as of 10 p.m.
McNeary could be seen via live video by local news stations broadcasting nearby. At several points during the evening, he was sitting on the front counter, on his cell phone and chatting with the hostages inside. Video the suspect apparently posted to Facebook this afternoon showed him demanding something from employees, who were communicating with officers via the drive-thru window.
Two FBI negotiators delivered a pizza to McNeary at the front door as they attempted to continue communicating with him. A fifth and last hostage was able to crawl out of the front glass window around 10:25 p.m. and officers quickly moved in and apprehended McNeary.
No injuries were reported in the incident and officers were completing a search of the building after the incident peacefully concluded.
McNeary was arrested and held on pending charges of bank robbery and kidnapping, authorities said at a late-night news conference. He arrived at the bank around 1:30 p.m., disgruntled about a former experience there, police said.
McNeary immediately asked for officers to call the FBI, St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said, and officers have had an extensive history with him, dating back at least 10 years.
McNeary was charged with two counts of felony domestic assault after an incident in St. Cloud in March and was convicted of misdemeanor domestic assault in Sherburne County in 2017.
McNeary was also convicted of felony terroristic threats in Ramsey County in 2018. For that conviction, he was sentenced to three years of probation, which was set to end in September 2021.
Anderson said that it was initially reported McNeary had brandished a handgun in the incident, but officers had not yet recovered a gun at the scene and it’s still unknown if McNeary was armed.
Court documents show McNeary was charged Friday with seven felony counts including 1st-degree aggravated robbery, 2nd-degree assault, and five counts of kidnapping.
UPDATE: Man Facing Federal Charge After St. Cloud Bank Robbery, Hostage-Taking