'Bonnie and Clyde' charges filed
Pair accused of 3 heists at the same bank; wife says they needed money
Handsome, athletic Joshua Rich, 25, wrapping his arms around 20-year-old Kylee, who is beaming. The image is a stark contrast to their jail booking mugshots. The couple stand accused of involvement in knocking off a Lindon-area bank three times.
Armed bank robbery charges were filed late Monday in federal court in Salt Lake City against Joshua and Kylee Rich, who have been dubbed Utah County's version of "Bonnie and Clyde." The couple is due in court on Wednesday. The U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah said it anticipates seeking a federal grand jury indictment next week.
According to an FBI affidavit filed with the criminal charges, Kylee Rich told investigators that her newlywed husband robbed the same Wells Fargo Bank because "they needed the money." Kylee admitted to driving the getaway car after the robbery.
"He brought a paper shopping bag and said he only got 'one drawer,'" FBI Special Agent Steven Fillerup wrote. "Joshua and Kylee swapped cars, and she drove away in the white Mustang, while Joshua drove off in their silver Civic."
Kylee Rich was arrested Saturday. According to a jail booking statement, police traced the couple's Honda Civic to an apartment complex where they found a suit coat, a gun and a GPS device that had been placed inside a bundle of cash when the bank was robbed. Joshua Rich was arrested in Pleasant Grove on Sunday.
"He (Joshua Rich) is saying a third individual was the one who went into the bank on the first two robberies," said FBI Special Agent Scott Wall.
The FBI and Pleasant Grove police refused to release the name of the third man, who is already jailed on unrelated offenses.
"We're very confident (in) our knowledge of his involvement," Pleasant Grove Police Capt. Cody Cullimore said Monday.
Surveillance video seems to support Rich's claim, the FBI said. A white man with a heavier build is shown on at least one of the video tapes from the Wells Fargo Bank in Lindon. The bank was robbed three times — on Nov. 10, Nov. 20 and on Saturday.
Cullimore said detectives believe the other man was the gunman in the second robbery, but not necessarily in the first robbery. Kylee Rich was recruited to drive the getaway vehicle in Saturday's heist, the FBI said.
"The wife was supposedly involved in only the third one," Wall said. "This other individual was not available for the third one, and that's why he (Joshua Rich) had to recruit her."
Federal agents believe the motive for the robberies is drug related.
"There is a drug history associated with these people," Wall said.
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; sisraelsen@desnews.com
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