Veterans step in to stop alleged serial bank robber in car chase with police

Three military veterans reportedly helped nab an alleged serial bank robber in North Carolina who was driving the wrong way down an interstate.

Kelvin Wayne Simmons, 53, was arrested last Thursday in Black Mountain by U.S. Marshals following a string of bank robberies throughout the state, according to local WLOS.

Simmons, who is accused of robbing banks in five North Carolina cities since May 25, allegedly instigated a high-speed, 115-mph police chase near the small mountain town and crashed into other cars on I-40 after attempting to carjack a woman and evade law enforcement. He reportedly let two passengers out of the car before the chase.

Simmons allegedly robbed each bank while brandishing a “Despicable Me” lunchbox. He was planning to rob a bank in Black Mountain, according to police, and had outstanding warrants in five North Carolina counties.

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Army veteran Trevor Hough told the local outlet that he and two other veterans were able to pull Simmons from the vehicle he crashed and immobilize him until police arrived. He allegedly was attempting to carjack an elderly woman.

“I said, ‘Get the car in park,’ because I was worried about him escaping and running me and the woman over,” Hough told WLOS. “When I had him on the ground, he was reaching behind, trying to reach under him. I assessed at one point he did have a gun, and he was reaching for it but during the auto accidents that he caused at some point, perhaps he lost his weapon.”

Police reportedly have not revealed whether Simmons had a weapon, but Hough told WLOS that Simmons’ attitude changed after he informed him that his situation would rapidly change if he produced a weapon.

“He stopped, and his demeanor very much was, ‘I need water; I don’t feel well,'” Hough said.

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“The real story is, there was an elderly woman getting carjacked and citizens went into action,” said Black Mountain Police Chief Steve Parker, according to WLOS. “Obviously, we always say you have to use caution and be careful, but they stepped up and could’ve maybe saved a life and stopped somebody who’s a dangerous criminal.”

Parker said Simmons had been “taken to the hospital after the arrest due to a medical condition.”

Simmons has been charged with first-degree kidnapping and assault on a female, according to the Asheville Police Department.