United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that Jonathan Wayne Lanaute, age 40, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick to bank robbery.
According to admissions made as part of his guilty plea, on the morning of May 3, 2024, Lanaute entered United Community Bank, located on Bluebonnet Boulevard in Baton Rouge, and stated that he needed to cash a check. Lanaute approached a counter and passed a handwritten note to the bank teller which stated “give me all the money in the cash resgister [sic] before everybody die in here.”
The teller, fearful of bodily harm, directed the bank’s computer to begin dispensing $100 bills. While waiting for the bills to be dispensed, Lanaute was fidgeting in his sweatshirt pockets as if he had a firearm. Lanaute told the teller to “hurry up, hurry up,” and not to make any moves.
The machine dispensed 50 $100 bills at a time and ran through four cycles. When complete. Lanaute took the money from the teller and walked towards the bank to leave.
Before exiting the building, Lanaute heard the machine continuing to dispense money, and he returned to the teller counter to retrieve the additional bills. Lanaute then exited the building with $20,000.
Law enforcement was dispatched to the scene and retrieved video footage from the bank’s surveillance system. The surveillance footage showed Lanaute entering the bank wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and a black Saints baseball cap and ultimately fleeing the scene in a dark-coloured sedan with a spoiler on the rear of the vehicle. Law enforcement identified the vehicle as a dark grey Mitsubishi Lancer, which had been reported stolen during an armed robbery near the bank the previous night.
The vehicle was identified around the immediate area of United Community Bank, and law enforcement visually confirmed the driver to be the same individual identified as the robber from the bank’s video surveillance.
Officers attempted a traffic stop of the vehicle. Lanaute refused to stop, and a vehicle pursuit ensued.
During the pursuit, Lanaute drove the vehicle into ongoing traffic, ran another motorist off the road, and drove in the wrong direction on the interstate. The pursuit of the vehicle ended when the driver crashed head-on into an innocent motorist on the interstate.
After the crash, Lanaute fled on foot. Following a short foot pursuit, Lanaute was apprehended and taken into custody. Lanaute was wearing the same clothing as seen in the bank’s video surveillance. Approximately $8,207.89 was recovered from Lanaute’s person.
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