FORT SMITH (KFSM) — Two men accused of stealing roughly $20,000 from a Bank OZK last summer have pleaded not guilty to federal robbery charges.
Daniel Giles, of Spencer, Okla., and Romaris Smith, of Houston, Texas, were arrested in July after they crashed their SUV in Spiro following a police chase.
Both are charged with bank robbery, possession of stolen bank funds and interstate transportation of stolen bank funds, as well as aiding and abetting on all counts, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday (Nov. 8) in U.S. District Court.
Their trial is set for Dec. 17.
Giles and Smith entered the bank about 11 a.m. on July 26 and approached two employees servicing an ATM, according to Fort Smith police.
The men took two metal cash canisters from the ATM and drove off.
Another employee nearby heard employees screaming, so he followed Giles and Smith while calling police. He told them the men left Arkansas and crossed into Oklahoma on U.S. 271.
Oklahoma authorities pursued the men and later found their SUV crashed in Spiro.
Giles was arrested shortly after the crash, but Smith evaded capture until later that night when he was found behind a Casey’s General Store.
According to the LeFlore County Sheriff’s Office, Smith went into the store and asked an employee to use a phone.
The employee lent Smith the phone, but followed him outside and overheard him say he would be waiting behind the store.
A Fort Smith resident found the two canisters in a drainage underpass after he went to confront the suspects for littering.
Giles and Smith were being held Friday (Nov. 9) at the Sebastian County Detention Center on $50,000 bonds.
