Bank robbery suspect will be held until trial
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
An accused getaway driver who, according to the FBI, gave a gun to his accomplice so he could hold up banks was ordered detained Thursday as a danger to the community.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell said the government presented enough evidence to hold Daymon Ottey, 29, of Penn Hills, for trial on robberyrelated charges and possession of a gun by a felon.
The FBI said Ottey helped Bryan Campbell, 28, of Crafton, rob banks last year in Plum and Verona and attempt to rob a bank in Baden. Campbell is in custody in a state case and is awaiting a hearing in federal court.
The U.S. attorney’s office charged the pair last week.
Part of the FBI’s evidence includes Facebook posts by Campbell’s girlfriend, Desiree LaVette, of the two vacationing in Florida, going to expensive dinners and buying jewelry shortly after the May 1 holdup of First National Bank in Verona.
FBI Agent Glen Galeone said Campbell entered the bank with a silver handgun equipped with a laser sight, noticed the vault was open and ordered a teller to fill a bag with cash. He got away with $84,000.
Agent Galeone said Campbell split the money with Ottey. The day after the robbery, he said, Ottey put down $6,000 toward the purchase of a Jeep Cherokee.
Planning for the robbery spree began March 4, 2017, the FBI said, when Ottey walked into the S&T Bank in Plum to case it.
Three days later Campbell, wearing a ski mask and carrying a silver handgun, robbed the bank of $7,707, the FBI said. He fled in a car registered to Ottey’s girlfriend, Jasmine Johnson.
Next came the May 1 robbery at First National in Verona and, in July, an attempted robbery of the Huntington Bank in Baden. The Jeep that Ottey had bought was spotted on video surveillance near the bank, the FBI said.
After piecing together the investigation, agents obtained search warrants last month for the last known residences of both men.
Agents found Ottey and Ms. Johnson at their house on Melvin Court in Penn Hills. A search turned up the gun with the laser sight. The FBI later tracked Campbell and LaVette to the home of her mother in Beaver Falls.