When Shennell Kennebrew's father recognized his daughter's image in a television news report on the prolific foul-mouthed bank robber dubbed the "F-Bomb Bandit," he urged her to turn herself in, Seattle police said.
But he says the 16-year-old girl laughed at him.
Not long afterward, police, acting on tips from two other people who saw the same news report, arrested Kennebrew at her South Seattle home March 2. Police say she was dressed in a black North Face jacket identical to one worn by the suspect in a Feb. 16 bank robbery in Renton.
By the time Jamel Kennebrew arrived at Seattle police headquarters, his daughter was already being questioned in the string of bank robberies between Jan. 11 and Feb. 24. He told detectives he had confronted the girl only to be rebuffed, according to charging documents filed earlier this week in King County Superior Court.
Shennell Kennebrew and three others, including two other teens, now face charges in connection with four armed robberies in Seattle, Kent and Renton that police said netted just under $11,400.
Kennebrew blamed her actions on her love for her boyfriend, co-defendant Dasha Taylor, the charges allege. She told police that Taylor and his cousin asked her to rob banks, for which she was once rewarded with $25 and a new jacket, charging documents said.
Kennebrew; Taylor, 17, of Renton; and another girl, Jade Beers, 17, of Seattle; have all been charged as adults for their alleged roles in the robberies. The three teens and Keith Sims, a 40-year-old with an extensive state and federal criminal record, have each been charged with four counts of first-degree robbery.
"These two young women were ... impressionable and misguided," said FBI Special Agent Fred Gutt. "But there's a line where misguided kids become stupid adults."
Sims had assured Kennebrew that she could not get in trouble for robbing banks because of her age, charging documents said.
In charging paperwork, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Dana Cashman said Sims and Taylor persuaded the two girls to rob banks. Sims, of Renton, is identified as Taylor's cousin and Beers is identified as a second girlfriend of Taylor, charging paperwork said.
Police say that robbers stole $7,600 from a Bank of America branch in Renton on Jan. 11; $500 from a Bank of America branch in Kent on Feb. 4; $913 from a Wells Fargo branch in Renton on Feb. 16 and $2,385 from an Alaska USA Federal Credit Union branch in North Seattle on Feb. 24.
In some of the robberies, the thieves abandoned their loot outside if tellers had placed a robbery-suppression device, such as a GPS device, inside the cash bag, court paperwork said.
Police have also linked the group with an attempted robbery at a Chase Bank branch in South Seattle on Feb. 2. In that case, the suspect fled after the handwritten note she passed the teller ripped, charging paperwork said.
After her arrest, Kennebrew said Sims and Taylor repeatedly asked her to rob banks before she finally relented, the charges allege. She said Taylor gave her a coat and hat to wear and Sims told her how to carry out the robberies, charging documents said.
During each robbery, Kennebrew allegedly handed a teller a profanity-laced note demanding cash, earning the nickname "F-Bomb Bandit" from the FBI.
Beers was identified in court paperwork as the getaway driver, taking Kennebrew to the banks, while Sims and Taylor watched the scene in a separate vehicle, charging paperwork said.
Kennebrew was told to leave the bag of cash outside the bank after each robbery. If Sims and Taylor didn't see police immediately, they would grab the bag and flee, charging documents said.
Beers told police Taylor and Sims also coerced her into participating in the robberies, charging papers said. She said she did not receive any of the stolen cash.
Investigators used cellphone records to verify the presence of Taylor and Sims at the banks, charging paperwork said. Police say Sims' phone records linked him to all five locations and Taylor's phone records linked him with three of the robberies and the Feb. 2 attempted robbery.
After Sims and Taylor were arrested last Thursday, they both denied any involvement in the robberies, police said.
Court records show Sims was sentenced to five years in prison in January 2006 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government as a founding member of a group that passed nearly $300,000 in counterfeit travelers checks around the Northwest in 2005.
At that time, according to a government sentencing memorandum, Sims already had "an exceedingly long and often violent criminal history" that included 15 prior convictions, most of them felonies.
Prosecutors said Sims was responsible for recruiting an "exceptionally skilled" printer to make the checks. He did not pass any of the $100 denomination checks himself, but recruited a cadre of others to do it, according to court documents.
According to federal court paperwork, two witnesses in the 2005 case were "very young women with whom [Sims] developed 'relationships' with over time. He then coerced one into prostitution and passing traveler's checks for him, and another into passing checks as well."
Both women told authorities that Sims "abused them, both stated he threatened them, and both expressed a sincere fear for their safety if he found out they talked to law enforcement," according to a documents filed in December of that year.
Prosecutors, in asking for a 60-month sentence, said Sims had a prior felony fraud conviction in California.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Lombardi III, who prosecuted Sims in the 2005 case, said the defendant "certainly has a long history of having young women commit his crimes while he lurks out in the parking lot."
Federal prosecutors said Sims had been released sometime within the past year.
King County prosecutors said Sims is a third-strike offender, who is facing life in prison if convicted on the new bank-robbery charges.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Friday, April 2nd 2010 at 1:46PM
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