LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Police arrested a 70-year-old Las Vegas man after he allegedly robbed a bank and then attempted to rob another just two days later, an arrest report said.
Donald Hampton faces charges of robbery, attempted robbery, and two counts of burglary of a business, first offense, records showed.
Starting on Nov. 5, multiple bank robberies were committed by the same person and in the same manner, police said. In all the robberies, the suspect would give a note to the teller demanding all big bills and suggesting a bomb was placed in the bank, according to an arrest report.
On Nov. 5 just before 1 p.m., police said a Black man wearing a black beanie, red jacket, and blue jeans entered Chase Bank on Sahara Avenue and Decatur Boulevard. According to an arrest report, the man immediately walked to the teller window and passed a note saying “15 minutes or I will bom [sic] the bank up. All big bill 100s.”
The teller did not initially read the note so the man told them he had a bomb in the bank while demanding money. The teller eventually activated the robbery alarm and gave the man about $5,000.
As the man left he told the teller that he would blow the bank up if he heard sirens or saw police in the next 15 minutes. The arrest report said that he acted like he had a detonator in his hand, but the teller recognized that it was just a yellow highlighter, according to an arrest report.
No fingerprints were recovered at the scene, however various video footage helped police track the suspect leading up to the robbery, according to the arrest report.
On Nov. 7 around 9:40 a.m. at the same bank, a Black man wearing a khaki jacket, blue pants, blue latex gloves, and a medical mask walked in, grabbed a deposit slip, and began writing, the arrest report said.
While the man was writing, a security guard approached him and he immediately left. Before he left the security guard noticed the word “all” written on the slip, according to police.
The manager of the bank believed it was the same man from the Nov. 5 robbery and contacted the police. Employees saw him walk to a nearby bus stop and get onto a bus traveling east on West Sahara Avenue.
Police stopped the bus at Sahara Avenue and Paradise Road, however, the man had already gotten off the bus at the previous stop.
On the same day around 11 a.m., a man wearing the same outfit walked into the Nevada State Bank on East Bridger Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
The arrest report said that the man passed a deposit slip to the teller that read “all big bills” and started to mumble. Realizing the man was trying to commit a robbery, the teller locked her computer and walked away from the window.
The man stayed at the window for a few minutes and yelled “I’ll blow this place up,” but eventually left empty-handed, the arrest report said.
Detectives immediately recognized the suspect as the same one from the suspicious person call at Chase Bank earlier that day.
Police also recognized the similarities between the Nov. 5 robbery and the Nov. 7 attempted robbery, including similar handwriting on the notes and both suspects being of similar stature and build.
On Nov. 16, police released photos from the robberies to local news media asking for the public’s help.
On Nov. 17, police received an anonymous tip saying that the suspect resembled a man named Donald Lee Hampton, the arrest report said.
Police conducted a background check on Hampton which revealed an extensive criminal history dating back to the 1970s consisting of multiple felony convictions including burglary and robbery. Outside of felony convictions, police have arrested Hampton more than 25 times in Nevada and four times in Utah, according to the arrest report.
Hampton was arrested at ReKindle Church near Charleston Boulevard and Maryland Parkway on Dec. 1.
In an interview with police, Hampton confirmed that he was the person in video footage from the Nov. 5 robbery however, denied committing any robberies and instead said that he was withdrawing money from his account, the arrest report said.
When confronted about the Nov. 7 incident, Hampton admitted to going to that bank in the past but denied being there on that day. Hampton told police that he did not try to rob the bank after he already admitted that it was him in surveillance footage and that he wrote the note, according to the arrest report.
Hampton is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 20 and 9 a.m.