Arrests made in foiled bank robbery
Created: June 26, 2009 09:04 PM     Modified: June 26, 2009 09:04 PM

Four men suspected of planning to rob a Claiborne Parish bank earlier this month -- an attempt foiled when a bank employee noticed people skulking around outside -- were arrested today. Sheriff's deputies from Claiborne Parish and neighboring Bienville Parish arrested three suspects without resistance around daybreak. A fourth was arrested later in Minden, Claiborne Sheriff Ken Bailey said.Eric L. Knowles, 18, Ralph E. Ridley Jr., 22, and Kendrick D. Smith, 18, all of Homer, and Jimmy L. Taylor Jr., 18, of Minden, were booked on charges of attempted armed robbery. Each was jailed this afternoon on $500,000 bond.Ridley and Smith were arrested together; Knowles was captured at a separate location in Claiborne Parish; and Taylor was arrested by Minden police, Bailey said.A fifth suspect had been arrested shortly after the June 19 incident.An apparent planned robbery at the Gibsland Bank and Trust branch in the small town of Athens was foiled when the bank manager noticed someone kept peeping around a fence outside the bank. Four people fled when a customer went outside to see what was happening, Bailey said. They fled to a waiting getaway car.One person was captured within minutes and deputies found a wolf mask and two guns nearby, Bailey said.

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