Ex-Marine Fights Off Armed Florida Bank Robber
COCOA, Florida -- At approximately 1:05 p.m. today,
Cocoa Police received a call of an armed robbery at the Wells Fargo
bank on US-1 in Cocoa, Florida. Police quickly arrived on scene and were
directed by witnesses to where the suspect may have fled. Police set
up a perimeter and quickly located the suspect.
According
to witnesses' accounts to police, the suspect, 43-year-old Edward Sotelo entered the bank
wearing a construction-type hard hat with tape on the front and back,
and a
surgical mask.
Sotelo allegedly approached the teller window, pointed the gun at
the teller and demanded money. Police say thats when a customer of the bank, at the next
window, saw what was happening and began fighting the bank robber. The
bank customer is a former Marine and a former member of
law enforcement.
Although police don’t suggest witnesses fight the bad
guy, they say the ex-marine's life of training kicked in and he felt he just
couldn’t stand by. The alleged robber then ran from the bank before he got
any money.
Fortunately, no one was hurt and Sotelo
was apprehended a few moments later across the street. Sotelo allegedly threw
the gun as he ran from the scene. A short time later, Cocoa’s Police
Chief was helping officers search the area and he located the gun.
Although Brevard Times was supplied with the Wells Fargo security images purportedly related to this incident, the bank has specifically prohibited the duplication or transmission of the images.