A bank employee was dragged by the hair during an armed robbery at a bank in Overland Park, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Friday.
Clifton B. Cloyd, 53, and Steven A. Watts, 54, were charged with one count of bank robbery and one count each of brandishing a firearm during the robbery.
A criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., alleged Cloyd and Watts were arrested Oct. 29 as they fled with money they stole from the Bank of America at 9500 Mission in Overland Park, Kan.
The affidavit alleges that during the robbery:
• Five bank employees and a customer where held at gunpoint.
• Cloyd, who was carrying a handgun, grabbed one of the bank employees and pulled her by the hair and scarf to the teller station. He struck her in the face three times with a handgun.
• Cloyd struck a customer so hard her glasses flew off and she was knocked to the floor.
• Cloyd struck a male bank employee with such force that his head started bleeding.
• Watts pointed a handgun at an employee and demanded she open the safe after they had tried to get into the safe-deposit boxes but failed.
If convicted, the defendants face a penalty of not less than 10 years and not more than 25 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the bank robbery charge, and a penalty of not less than seven years and a fine up to $250,000 on the firearm charge.
The Overland Park Police Department, the Prairie Village Police Department, the Leawood Police Department and the FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel is prosecuting.