Gang members charged with bank robbery

LOS ANGELES - Three reputed Rollin' 40s Crips gang members were charged last week with robbing a Canyon Country bank then leading police on a high-speed chase as they threw cash out the car's window, the District Attorney's Office announced.Phillip Ely, 29; Lavelle Mosley, 22; and Terion Lamarr Collins, 25, were arraigned at San Fernando Superior Court, said Deputy District Attorney Moira Curry. The three were charged with four counts each of second-degree robbery and one count each of kidnapping to commit another crime. The complaint alleges street gang and gun use allegations against each defendant. In addition, Ely is charged with evading an officer and auto theft with prior convictions. The three, along with a fourth unnamed suspect who has not been arrested, allegedly robbed a Bank of America in Canyon Country shortly after 10 a.m. on Sept. 12. Sheriff's deputies began a pursuit of a dark-colored SUV. The hour-long chase ended when the suspects were trapped by traffic on a busy residential street by cars and throngs of people who ran to scoop up cash thrown out the fleeing vehicle. Prosecutors asked bail be set for Ely and Collins at $1.35 million and for Mosley at $1.3 million. If convicted, each faces life in prison.

********** Published: September 20, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 23