Detectives arrested an 80-year-old man Saturday for the armed robbery of a branch of the $154 million Pyramid Federal Credit Union in Tucson, Ariz.
What’s more, authorities are investigating whether the accused armed robber was allegedly involved in a multimillion-dollar jewel theft and bank robbery in Arizona in 1981. He also was reportedly convicted of embezzlement in 1966 when he worked for a Chicago bank as a teller, according to an Associated Press article.
Tucson Police Department detectives said Robert Francis Krebs was armed with a weapon and demanded money from a teller at the credit union’s branch on North Oracle Road on Friday at about 4 p.m. After the teller gave Krebs an undisclosed amount of cash, he ran from the credit union.
On TPD’s Facebook site on Friday night, detectives posted surveillance photos of Krebs walking into the credit union and standing at the teller station, describing him as a Caucasian male in his late 60s. On Saturday, police received a tip that Krebs attempted to check into a hotel but left before doing so.
After calling other nearby hotels and motels, detectives found Krebs and arrested him without incident.
He was booked into the Pima County Jail on one count of armed robbery. According to the jail’s records, Krebs is in the infirmary. His bail was set at $50,000.
This case, which was described by police as “very rare,” attracted about 100 Facebook comments over the long Holiday weekend. However, as of Tuesday morning, all of those comments were taken off the site and an additional 71 new comments were posted as of 1 p.m., Eastern Time.
On April 27, 1981, the New York Times printed an Associated Press article that reported Krebs was a suspect in other crimes and was described by the FBI as “armed and extremely dangerous.”
“Officials said Robert Francis Krebs, 43 years old, escaped from Pima County sheriff’s deputies here in December (1980) after being arrested for driving a stolen car,” the article said. “The officials said he was convicted in Chicago in 1966 for embezzling $72,647 from a Manufacturers National Bank branch where he worked as a teller.”
The article also reported Krebs was wanted along with three other men for an alleged $1.5 million jewel theft and a $3.3 million robbery of the First National Bank of Arizona.
“I cannot confirm he is a suspect (in the 1981 case),” said Sgt. Jack Woolridge who oversees TPD’s robbery unit. “I can tell you that we received similar information.”
However, even if police confirm that Krebs was involved in the alleged bank robbery and jewel heist 37 years ago, it is unknown whether the statute of limitations may prevent prosecutors from filing charges against him.
“The statute of limitations does apply but there’s some issues surrounding the statute of limitations we still have to investigate further,” Woolridge said. “There are some rules associated with this that could affect the statute of limitations.”
Woolridge said police will be meeting with the district attorney to discuss the case.
“It’s an interesting case, to say the least,” he said.
The FBI office in Phoenix did not immediately respond to a CU Times phone call and email seeking comment on Tuesday afternoon.
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