Final Sentence in Rangers Bank Job
With the 10-year sentence handed down the other day to Nathan Dunmall, a 20-year-old Canadian, the curtain fell on the Soldiers of Fortune bank heist. Three Fort Lewis Army Rangers and two Canadian nationals who pulled off the military-style takeover of a south Tacoma bank in August, 2006 wearing ski masks and body armor, have now all been sentenced. They were prepared to use explosives and were armed with AK-47s in case of a police shootout. With terror and precision, they made off with $50,000 in 90 seconds. Ringleader Luke Summer (left), who got a 24-year sentence last December, set up a fake bank on the grounds of Fort Lewis and practiced the takedown with his fellow Rangers. He planned to use his cut to start up an organized crime gang in B.C. to rival the Hells Angels.
That hope faded quickly. Lead FBI agent Monte Shaide and Todd Karr, a detective sergeant with the Pierce County Violent Crimes Task Force, were on Fort Lewis grounds the next day, following a trail that would lead to speedy arrests. Despite their planning and organization, the Rangers made a bonehead mistake. They sped from the bank in a car owned by one of the Rangers. A passerby jotted down the license number, game over. The getaway driver, Ranger Alex Blum, was rewarded with the softest sentence, 16 months. After all, he was in the car during the robbery - and never did think to cover that license plate.
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