Serial Bandit Mistakenly Released

A serial bank robber was mistakenly released for four hours after his capture last week after confessing to 16 area credit union and bank robberies since last July, including 10 in his hometown of Sandy. Three civilian employees at the Salt Lake County Jail failed to double-check the release date for Jeremy Van Duren and allowed the serial robber to walk away at 10 p.m. But the erroneous release of the robber, known as "Slim Jim" for his slender physique observed on surveillance videos, prompted a rapid manhunt and the bandit's re-arrest by 2 a.m. The jail employees had failed to notice that a judge had given prosecutors an extension for filing charges. Among the institutions Van Duren confessed to robbing are: America First CU and CU Service Center Van Duren told police he robbed the credit unions and banks to support a drug habit.