TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—New cell phone video shows how police stormed the doors of an Alabama CU branch Tuesday, breaking through with a battering ram and guns drawn, to end a hostage situation.
Newly released court records also shed new light on the events.
As CUToday.info reported, 18-year-old Cederick Lamar Collins allegedly walked into the credit union around 8:30 a.m., and with a gun in hand demanded money, according to reports. Collins was stopped by University of Alabama police and subsequently took hostages.
Despite authorities crashing through the front door, as shown on the video here from WBRC, the situation was resolved peacefully without anyone being injured.
The video was captured by employees at a neighboring business, the news station reported.
Eleven hostages were held for two hours. No members were in the credit union at the time, reports indicate. Authorities were able to breach the building once they determined that the suspect was not in the same part of the business as the hostages, authorities reported. Collins has been arrested.
According to WVTM court records reveal that police safely rescued a credit union employee at the beginning of the situation. The police report said Collins was armed with a Marksman Repeater BB gun. The rescued hostage said Collins demanded that someone open the safe, and he tried to leave the credit union with a large amount of money.
Alabama CU CEO Steve Swofford said counselors were provided to the former hostages for as long as they need them. “These people are my family. Yes, I have a family and wife and kids and all that, but these people are just an extension of that,” Swofford said in the WVTM report.
Collins has been charged with first degree robbery, with additional charges likely to follow. The Tuscaloosa County Public Defender's Office confirms that Collins is the same suspect in a 2015 rape and kidnapping case. Court documents show Collins was out on bond for the 2015 case, WBRC reported, The Tuscaloosa District Attorney's office has filed a motion to revoke Collins' bond in the 2015 case.
It’s the second time in two months that a credit unions has faced a hostage situation.
As CUToday.info reported here, 23-year-old Nicholas Daquan Humphrey in December allegedly attempted to rob a branch of Community First Credit Union during which he also held nearly a dozen people hostage. Two people who were able to escape the credit union called police. A SWAT team eventually responded, and following what it said was a verified report that Humphrey had allegedly put a gun to the head of one of those being held, stormed the building, freed the hostages and captured Humphrey. No one was hurt.