Suspect charged in Chubbuck armed bank robbery

CHUBBUCK — A man police linked to the armed robbery at a Chubbuck credit union has been arrested and charged.

Brandon Lee Damon, 43, faces two counts of felony aggravated assault and one count of felony robbery, court records show.

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Chubbuck police received “hold-up alarms” from a credit union on West Chubbuck Road around noon on Nov. 21, according to an affidavit of probable cause. While en route, officers learned dispatch had received calls from employees inside the credit union confirming an armed robbery.

Upon arrival, officers spoke with a teller, who said a man in all black and a mask — later identified as Damon — walked into the credit union and immediately pulled a gun. The victim told police Damon approached her, pointing the gun at her, and said to “give (him) everything. Hurry up,” she told police. She described Damon holding the handgun with his finger on the trigger.

She said she handed all the money in her drawer to Damon, who then turned and walked out of the building.

The victim provided officers with a description of the man — a slender Native American man, around six feet tall. She said he spoke in a deeper, rumbling voice and he was difficult to understand.

Officers spoke with a second victim, also a teller, who was working at the time of the robbery.

The second victim said she heard the door open “aggressively” but ignored it, as she was helping another customer at the time, the affidavit says. Then, she said, she heard a man demanding money, so she looked up and saw the gun.

She said the man made verbal threats to shoot both tellers and tapped the gun on the counter as the first victim was emptying her drawer.

The second victim provided officers with a description similar to the one offered by the first, adding that she noticed a tattoo on the hand holding the gun. She said she couldn’t see details in the tattoo, however.

She said the man did not acknowledge the two customers in the bank at the time of the robbery, adding that he requested the money from her drawer after getting money from the first victim. But, she told police, he was gone before she could retrieve her money.

Chubbuck police distributed photos of the incident to surrounding agencies and then posted them on social media.

A short time later, officers received a call from a woman who said she believed the man in the pictures was Damon. The woman said she knew Damon was looking for money to purchase a bus ticket to Utah.

She told police she knew Damon owned a handgun-style BB or pellet gun. She also said Damon told her the night before that if she heard about a bank robbery on the news, it was not him.

After the call, Chubbuck police put out an attempt to locate. They learned Damon had been arrested on a separate and unrelated warrant by Fort Hall police.

Two days later, Damon was transported from the Fort Hall Justice Center to the Bannock County Jail, where he was booked and is being held on a $150,000 bond.

Before transport, Chubbuck police searched the property seized from Damon when he was arrested by Fort Hall police. The clothes, according to police reports, matched those worn by the man who robbed the credit union.

Though Damon has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

If he is found guilty, Damon would face up to life in prison.

He is scheduled to appear in court before Magistrate Judge Aaron Thompson for a preliminary hearing Wednesday.