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Hourly Update

Case of bank robbery, cop shooting goes to Tucson jury Monday

By Alexis Huicochea
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.21.2008
Jurors will begin deliberating next week the fate of a man accused of robbing a bank and shooting officers in a subsequent chase.
Cassius Clayton Whitehead, 38, is facing multiple counts of armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault and attempted first-degree murder in connection with the May 2007 incident.
On Friday, the prosecution and the defense gave closing arguments. On Monday, Pima County Superior Court Judge Howard Hantman will issue the jury instructions.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Jonathan Mosher gave the following account:
The incident unfolded May 5, 2007, after the Wells Fargo Bank at 5310 E. Grant Road was robbed. A masked gunman forced bank employees onto the ground before leaving in a car that had been reported stolen a few days earlier.
Police converged on the area, locating the getaway car within 10 minutes. It was backed into an apartment complex in the 4800 block of East Pima Street in order to conceal the license plate.
Shortly thereafter, two officers saw a man in the area on a bicycle carrying a duffel bag. It was in that same location that a tracking device indicated that the cash stolen from the bank was in close range.
Officers began following the bicyclist, who would eventually ditch the bike before pointing a gun at the officers and running away.
Officers surrounded the area to ensure that no one made their way in to the area and that no one slipped out.
It was during that time that shots rang out, striking one officer in the abdomen — fortunately he was wearing a bullet proof vest — and another officer in the arm. A third officer suffered a superficial wound from a bullet fragment or ricochet.
The gunfire went on for seven or eight minutes, Mosher said.
“After that, (Whitehead’s) hopes of getting out of there $50,000 richer are down the drain,” Mosher said as he made his argument.
At least one officer reported seeing the gunman emerge from a back yard over a wall and approximately 10 to 15 seconds later, he was shot by Officer Sean Berube.
Police found the duffel bag, which contained a mask and the stolen money.
The defense stated there is no DNA evidence linking Whitehead to the duffel bag, the money, the mask, the gun or the bicycle. It also suggested that Berube did not shoot Whitehead. Rather the “real” bank robber was the one who did it while Whitehead tried to take cover from the gunfire.
Defense attorney Kyle Ipson said Whitehead was hiding in a nearby yard “ducking bullets” during the shootout.
Ipson told jurors there also were inconsistencies in the police and witness accounts of what the bank robber was wearing.
An officer and a detective said he was wearing a polo shirt and jean shorts, but other witnesses said they saw him in a tank top, Ipson said.
Also, everyone was too focused on the gun to notice the shooter, he said.
“You look at the testimony of the eyewitnesses and, there some consistencies, but not a lot of consistencies,” he said.
However, Mosher said the evidence points only to Whitehead.
“The trail of evidence all proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he did it,” Mosher said. “It’s time to hold him accountable.”
Reporter Jamar Younger contributed to this story. Contact reporter Alexis Huicochea at 573-4242 or ahuicochea@azstarnet.com.
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