Serial bank robbery suspect Fernando Enriquez federally charged

TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Fernando Enriquez, an Albuquerque man suspected of committing a string of bank robberies across Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, and California was federally charged.

The 35-year-old was charged via criminal complaint on March 30 with one count of bank robbery. He made his initial appearance the next afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge John R. Parker.

According to the complaint, on March 29, Enriquez allegedly entered a Chase Bank in Abilene, Texas, brandished a firearm, demanded cash from the teller, and then fled the scene.

The teller, who activated her silent alarm during the robbery, later described the suspect as a heavy-set Hispanic man wearing a face mask, grey hoodie, jeans, and a baseball cap.

A witness who was inside the bank during the incident used his phone to record video footage of the suspect exiting the bank and entering a white Chevrolet suburban bearing Mississippi license plates. He immediately turned the video over to law enforcement.

Forty-five minutes later, Texas DPS and Abilene Police Department officers pulled over the suburban in Merkel, Texas and detained Enriquez and his girlfriend, Crystal Quispe. Inside the vehicle, officers found a firearm, a gray hoodie, baseball cap, and a significant sum of U.S. currency.

Law enforcement transported Enriquez and Quispe to the Abilene Police Department, where Quispe told FBI agents that over the past 14 months, she and  Enriquez have lived in Arizona, Mississippi, New Mexico, and California. She said that though Enriquez was not employed most of that time, he always seemed to have cash on hand.

She told officers that prior to the robbery, Enriquez left her and his children at a motel, stating he had to fill the car with gas. When he returned, she said, he rushed to get the vehicle loaded and leave. She described Enriquez's driving during their departure from Abilene as faster and more erratic than usual.

Based on physical description and the modus operandi, investigators believed that the suspect who committed the Abilene robbery may have committed similar robberies in Arizona, Mississippi, New Mexico, and California. They showed Quispe two photographs from the other bank robberies, both provided by FBI Phoenix. Quispe identified the man in the photographs as Enriquez.

If convicted, Enriquez faces up to 25 years in federal prison.