According to an article in the Casper Star-Tribune, an FBI affidavit confirms the man apprehended in Casper on Wednesday under suspicion of robbing Bank of the West in Casper yesterday morning is the same person who robbed the U.S. Bank on 3rd Street in Laramie on Monday.
Law enforcement suspected a string of bank robberies in Utah and western Wyoming were the work of the same culprit, but until yesterday, remained speculative.
Federal bank robbery and aiding and abetting charges have been pressed against James Thain, 37, and Mindy Lawrence, 33. Thain is also charged with using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The Star Tribune article said Thain faces five years to consecutive life sentences and Lawrence faces zero to 20 years in prison.
The couple was arrested on Wednesday following a high-speed chase in Casper where the suspects crashed their vehicle into a house on McKinley Street near 12th Street. Thain was reportedly taken to the hospital.
