TUSCALOOSA, Ala.–A man who took hostages while robbing a credit union here has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Cedrick Lamar Collins, 19, who pleaded guilty in August of this year to one count of robbing the Alabama Credit Union and to one count of taking hostages during the commission of the robbery in January of 2017 will also serve five years of supervised release following his release from prison.
“This defendant threatened and endangered the lives of 10 people as he put them between himself and armed police,” U.S. Attorney Jay Town said in a statement. “The SWAT teams from the Tuscaloosa Police and Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s departments did a superb job of stopping the bank robbery, arresting the robber, and recovering all the hostages unharmed.”
One employee of Alabama CU who was taken hostage during the robbery testified during the hearing about how Collins put them all in fear for their lives. The employee told the court that Collins moved the hostages throughout the building, brandishing his gun and, at one point, holding it to her head.
The handgun Collins held was later found to be a BB gun.