Business Owner Charged with Bank Robbery; Used Company Van as Getaway Vehicle

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri
December 30, 2009

KANSAS CITY, MO—Matt J. Whitworth, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an owner of a Kansas City, Mo., heating and cooling business was charged in federal court today with robbing Metcalf Bank after his company van was identified as the getaway vehicle.

Mark McAvinew, 52, of Kansas City, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City with stealing $3,170 from Metcalf Bank on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2009.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, McAvinew entered Metcalf Bank, 9740 Wornall Road, Kansas City, Mo., at approximately 11:11 a.m. McAvinew allegedly approached a bank employee who was seated at the customer service desk in the bank’s lobby and told her to give him all of the $50 and $100 bills. The employee moved to a teller station, unlocked the drawer and placed the money into a small nylon bag the robber had given her. While she was putting money into the bag, the affidavit says, McAvinew demanded that she put in the $20 bills, too. She handed the bag to McAvinew, the affidavit says, and he left the bank.

Video surveillance footage from a nearby business showed McAvinew leave the bank and walk toward a white van, which bore the company insignia of A.M. Heating and Cooling. McAvinew is part owner of A.M. Heating and Cooling, and was identified by his business partner from bank surveillance photos. McAvinew was also identified by his wife, the affidavit says, who told law enforcement officers that she had seen her husband’s photo in the media that day and called the TIPS hot line to report that her husband was the robber.

Whitworth cautioned that the charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Barnes. It was investigated by the FBI.