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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Law enforcement arrested a man and woman from Ruskin, Florida, who are accused of robbing a Wells Fargo bank, located at 6301 W. Newberry Road, on Saturday afternoon.

Deionte Swinton, 22, and Elizabeth Vagnier, 24, were charged with unarmed robbery and child neglect.

On Saturday around 12:57 p.m., Swinton allegedly entered the bank wearing a surgical mask, according a Gainesville Police Department media release.

Swinton

 

Vagnier

 He passed a note to the teller saying he was robbing the bank and then directed the victim to put the money from her drawer into a bag, according to the arrest report. Once the teller complied and gave him the money, Swinton left the bank and got into a car allegedly being driven by Vagnier.

A GPS device, hidden in the money, was activated as Swinton allegedly left the bank. When activated, the device sent an alert to a tracking system, according to the media release. The Alachua County Combined Communications Center and other GPD officers received the alert and location of the device.

The device was traveling north on Interstate 75, outside of Gainesville city limits. On-duty officers and Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies began searching for Swinton.

An officer was able to stop Swinton’s car near Northwest 218th Avenue and County Road 235A because of information found in the investigation and from a helicopter holding officers from multiple law enforcement agencies, according to the release.

Swinton was taken into custody and the money, clothes, a gun and other evidence of the robbery were in the car, according to the arrest report. His two children were also in the car at the time.

Swinton also had a warrant for a similar bank robbery from Hillsborough County, according to the report.

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After reading them their Miranda Rights, Swinton confessed to robbing the bank and having a gun but not using it, according to the report.

Vagnier said she was aware of Swinton’s plans and helped him find the bank using her phone. She also said she drove Swinton away from the robbery in Hillsborough with children in the car.

Swinton and Vagnier remained in the Alachua County Jail on Saturday and Sunday in lieu of a $400,000 bail.

Follow Devoun Cetoute on Twitter @devoun_cetoute and contact him at dcetoute@alligator.org. 

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