PHOENIX – A bank robber whose accomplice was killed in a shootout with a security guard will serve a 25-year sentence in the Arizona Department of Corrections. Vincent Robert Jones (D.O.B. 12/14/1992) pled guilty to all charges in a 37-count indictment related to robberies of two credit unions in 2014. Under terms of the sentence imposed today by the Honorable Judge Sherry Stephens, Jones will be placed on probation for four years following his release and receive credit for roughly a year of time served in custody.
“Today’s sentence represents a just response to this Defendant’s greed and complete disregard for others which imperiled the lives of innocent people and caused the death of another human being,” said Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery. “His time in prison is also greater than the presumptive term for the offenses he was convicted of, which serves the dual purpose of holding him accountable for his criminal behavior while protecting the community from further harm.”
On September 20, 2014, Vincent Jones and an accomplice, Lyndell Kendrick Cherry, entered the Arizona Federal Credit Union at 12401 North Cave Creek Road. Armed with a handgun, Cherry jumped the counter and removed cash from the teller drawers while Jones used a Taser to order the customers on the floor.
On October 15, 2014, Jones and Cherry struck again, robbing the Desert Schools Federal Credit Union at 4619 East Cactus Road. Hoping to make a quick getaway, they left the engine of their car running outside the bank and then entered wearing ski masks and armed with handguns. Cherry jumped over the counter and began removing cash from the teller drawers while Jones ordered customers and other employees on the ground. A witness who saw the men enter the bank called 911 and then walked to a neighboring jewelry store where he alerted an armed security guard. The guard went to the robbers’ car and removed the key from the ignition, hoping to stall their escape until police arrived.
After completing the robbery, Jones and Cherry ran outside the bank to their car and discovered the key had been removed. They then ran back into the bank where Jones grabbed a purse from a female customer, dumped out the contents and took her vehicle key. The two men then returned to the parking lot and attempted to locate the customer’s vehicle. Before they were able to find the car, Jones saw a man and woman getting out of a pickup truck and forced them to the ground at gunpoint. Fearing for the couples’ safety, the security guard pointed his gun at the robbers and ordered them to drop their weapons. After they refused to do so, the security guard fired his gun at Cherry.
Over a dozen shots were then exchanged between the robbers and the security guard, one of them striking Cherry in the chest. Jones, who had obtained the key to the couples’ pickup truck, got into the vehicle and drove away, leaving Cherry in the parking lot to die a short while later. Striking other cars in the parking lot as he attempted to escape, Jones eventually drove north on Tatum Boulevard and collided with another vehicle at 44th Street and Thunderbird. He fled the scene on foot but was later apprehended and arrested by Phoenix Police.
On October 24, 2014, the Grand Jurors of Maricopa County charged Vincent Jones with nine counts of armed robbery, 26 counts of kidnapping, one count of aggravated assault and one count of first degree murder. On July 21, 2015, he pled guilty to an amended count of second degree murder and the other 36 counts as charged. Judge Stephens sentenced Jones to two consecutive 12.5-year prison terms for each of the robberies; a concurrent term of 25 years for the kidnapping counts; a concurrent term of 22 years for the murder count; and a four-year term of probation for the aggravated assault charge.
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