LAREDO, Texas – A former employee of Laredo FCU yesterday was charged with last Friday’s robbery at the credit union, when an armed assailant bound and gagged two employees before accessing the vault.
Police said around 7:08 p.m. on Jan. 6 a credit union employee exited from the rear door of the branch, at which point he was confronted by an armed individual who threatened to kill the employee if he called the police. The assailant bound the employee’s wrists and ankles, taped his mouth shut, and later left the employee in a storage room.
The robber then guided a female employee to the vault and told her to begin filling the money into a plastic bag, according to authorities. He also allegedly threatened to kill her if she did anything stupid. She was later left taped to a chair and the suspect fled with the money.
The assailant left in a truck not belonging to him, which was later located a few blocks away, along with a two stacks of U.S. currency bound in Laredo FCU bands.
The armed robber was identified as Asrael Cruz, 29, who was arrested Tuesday afternoon.
