LUMBERTON, NC (WBTW) – A man has been sentenced to life in prison for the armed robbery of a Lumberton bank.

Demetris Sean Robinson, 27, of Whiteville, North Carolina, was sentenced to “life imprisonment plus 10 years to be served consecutively, followed by 5 years of supervised released,” Robert J. Higdon, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announced Thursday.

On May 1, 2019, Robinson was convicted after a jury trial for armed bank robbery, aiding and abetting, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

On November 14, Daquan Madrid Pridgen was sentenced to “life imprisonment, plus ten years’ imprisonment to be served consecutively.” Jeramie Ross Vaughn and Rashad Devonte Young each received 180 months in prison.

A release from Higdon’s office said evidence presented at trial showed that in “late 2017,” the four men “began planning to rob a bank and gathered high-quality masks to wear during the robbery, and several firearms, including a rifle, shotgun, and two handguns.”

On January 23, 2018, the four men went to Lumberton and “cased banks before deciding to rob the PNC Bank.” Robinson, Young, and Pridgen “each brandished firearms and ordered the tellers to hand over money” and an employee of the bank “was also ordered to the bank vault where additional money was taken.” The men fled from the bank “with over $40,000 in cash.”

Lumberton police officers “quickly caught up with the robbers” and chase followed, the release said. Law enforcement officers from the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office and the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office were also involved in the chase, where the men “drove through residential areas and reached speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour.’

“Robinson fired at officers both while the getaway vehicle was in motion and while the vehicle stopped several times.  Several law enforcement vehicles were struck, but there were no injuries to law enforcement,” the release added. The chase ended when the vehicle was abandoned along the side of a road in Columbus County.

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