APPLETON, Wis.–A 19-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly robbing a credit union because he wanted to “try something different today, so I robbed a bank.”
According to police, Xengxai Yang allegedly robbed a branch of Community First Credit Union. He has been charged with robbery of a financial institution with a dangerous weapon and is being held on a $250,000 cash bond. His next court date is set for March 28.
According to the criminal complaint, a teller at the credit union described the robber as a person wearing a mask and black clothing with a long gun. She said the person told her to put her hands up and told the manager to come out to the lobby.
Yang allegedly said he wanted $10,000, and the tellers put money from their cash drawers on the counter, the complaint states. The teller said he used a zip tie to bind her hands and she believed he bound the manager's hands, too. She then heard the door click and believed he had left, the complaint added.
Officer Makes Arrest
According to police, as a police officer arrived, he saw a man walking quickly away from the credit union wearing sunglasses, black clothing and what appeared to be a black ski mask. The officer stopped the man, Yang, searched him and found a modified .22-caliber rifle in his waistband with a round in the chamber. Police said they also found two magazines of .22-caliber ammunition and a box of ammunition in his pants pockets, as well as zip ties in the front pocket of the hooded sweatshirt Yang was wearing.
Yang told police that he had "decided to try something new today, so I robbed a bank." The robbery wasn't planned, Yang told police.
Police reported Yang said the gun wasn't loaded when he went into the credit union but he "cocked it" after the employees gave him the money. He said he zip-tied the employees' hands after taking the money to prevent them from pressing an emergency button. Police said they recovered $10,745 from Yang.