(Jackson, Mn.)– Four suspects taken into custody in connection with Monday’s armed robbery of the Farmer’s and Merchant’s Bank in Alpha now face federal charges.
The four are identified as 32-year-old Voravong Koubandonh of Jackson; 22-year-old Robert Eskelson of Northfield, Minnesota; 23-year-old Gary Percival of Medford, Minnesota; and 19-year-old Jeremiah Billings of Kilkenny, Minnesota.
According to a federal complaint, Percival and Billings entered the bank wearing ski masks. Percival announced it was a robbery and demanded money from the cashier’s drawer. Billings allegedly held a pellet gun that resembled a small machine gun. They got away with an undetermined amount of money.
The complaint says Billings and Percival left the bank on a dirt bike and met up with Koubandonh and Eskelson outside of Alpha. The bike was ditched in a corn field and the four fled in a dark-colored Ford van and a gray Dodge Stratus. Both vehicles traveled to Jackson. The van then headed to Spirit Lake. Eskelson and Percival were apprehended in the area of Jackson Avenue and Highways Nine and 71 after two local government employees witnessed the occupants in the van throw a bag out a window. Spirit Lake police were notified, which with assistance from the Arnolds Park Police Department and Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office stopped the vehicle. A backpack with a ski mask in it was found along with the gun allegedly used in the robbery and the cash that was stolen.
Authorities in Jackson county located the Dodge Stratus with Koubandonh and Billings in it in the 100 block of Emily Avenue in Jackson. They were taken into custody around 3:30 p.m. Monday.
