ST. LOUIS – The lone suspect in this summer’s spectacular heist at armored cash carrier ATM Solutions escaped overnight Sunday from the Lincoln County Jail, where he was being held on a federal weapons charge.
The suspect, John Wesley Jones, and another federal inmate escaped sometime around 3:30 a.m. A manhunt is under way. Police were broadcasting an alert that the two may be in a white 2007 Ford pickup with Missouri license plates and "United Rentals" stickers. The truck had a welding machine and some kind of crane in the back. The keys had been left in the truck, according to the broadcast.
Jones, 36, is believed to be one of four masked men who overpowered two workers at the cash supplier for hundreds of credit unions and banks on August 2, then used one of the company’s armored vans to haul away weapons and as much as $11 million in cash. Authorities found the van less than two miles from the site.
ATM Solutions, which is headquartered in Cincinnati, provides ATM and other cash services to hundreds of credit unions and banks in six Midwest states.
Jones is the only person identified by officials as a suspect in the heist, but he has not been charged with that crime. He was being held on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a gun that St. Louis police say they found along with about $1 million in cash in the trunk of a car Jones was driving when he was arrested the day after the heist outside what police believe was the gang’s safe house. It was the same model of car seen on surveillance video with the stolen ATM Solutions van.
The U.S. Marshals are leading the manhunt for Jones and the other inmate, who is identified as Corey Cross, being held on charges of for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Officials with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department said the escapees somehow reached the roof of the jail, then climbed down a 30-foot wall. Officers discovered the men missing during a headcount as breakfast was being served about 7:15 a.m.
A pickup truck matching the description and license number of one the escapees were suspected of using was recovered early yesterday afternoon along eastbound Interstate 70.
