Austin Bank Robber's "Wild Ride" Ends in Lengthy Prison Sentence

 After describing his crime spree as a “wild ride,” 60-year-old Austin bank robber Rodney Glenn Green careened into a 35-year federal prison sentence today announced U.S. Attorney Gregg N. Sofer; FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Fred Milanowski, Houston Division; Austin Police Chief Brian Manley; and San Marcos Police Chief Stan Standridge. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman imposed Green’s sentence in United States District Court in Austin.

On January 15, 2020, a federal jury convicted Green of five counts of bank robbery, five counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm after the jury found that Green robbed multiple Austin-area banks in 2018.

The evidence showed that while wearing a homemade mask, Green took a total of over $35,000 from four banks during the course of five robberies as follows:

• January 24, 2018 – approximately $4,000 from Chase Bank in Austin;
• February 8, 2018 – approximately $3,337 from BBVA Compass Bank in Austin;
• February 24, 2018 – approximately $11,939 from BBVA Compass Bank in Austin;
• April 7, 2018 – approximately $5,495 from BB&T Bank in Austin; and
• April 28, 2018 – approximately $10,841 from Bank of America in San Marcos.

Green committed all five bank robberies in a similar manner.  While wearing gloves, a mask, and a dark hooded sweatshirt or jacket, he brandished a small semi-automatic handgun while demanding money from bank tellers.  Approximately a day after the last of the five robberies, police officers and federal agents apprehended Green and searched his hotel room, vehicle, and storage unit pursuant to search warrants.  In addition to finding currency still wrapped in bank straps that Green had in a bag on his person, law enforcement discovered a number of distinctive items in Green’s possession that were visible on surveillance images of the robberies. 

From the storage unit police recovered a black hooded sweatshirt that appeared to match the one worn by the robber. They also found a small semi-automatic handgun with Green’s fingerprint on the magazine along with two pairs of work gloves recognizable from the surveillance images due to brand names and logos printed on the backs of the gloves.  A pair of gloves recovered from Green’s vehicle was stained with pink dye, apparently from a dye pack that was among the bills that Green took from one of the robberies.  The police also recovered a distinctive homemade mask that appeared to match the mask the robber wore during two of the robberies.  The mask was located inside of a sleeve of the sweatshirt recovered from Green’s storage unit.

The FBI; Central Texas Violent Crimes Task Force; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Austin Police Department; and San Marcos Police Department investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Harding, Gabriel Cohen, Alan Buie, and Robert Almonte prosecuted this case for the government.