Model pleads guilty to bank heists, police chase came through Arizona
Nov 8, 2017, 7:02 AM | Updated: 11:11 am
(Yuma Police Department)
(Yuma Police Department)
A bank-robbing model who led police on a cross-country manhunt that included a stop in Arizona has pleaded guilty to the crimes in a Connecticut court.
The Greenwich Time reported that “beefcake bandit” David Byers, 35, of San Diego, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Hartford, Connecticut.
The San Diego man had been arrested in May, accused of pulling off a string of robberies in New York and Connecticut. Prosecutors said Byers robbed a Chase Bank twice and a Citgo gas station in Greenwich in April before leading police on a nationwide search.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Byers’ crime spree included stealing cars, one of which he drove to Yuma, Arizona in late April.
An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper chased that vehicle, a black Chevy pickup truck, west on Interstate 8. Byers drove the truck to a motel parking lot, got out and evaded authorities.
An FBI official with the San Diego office said while in Yuma that Byers had called a friend for a ride out of town.
He was caught in San Diego.
Byers faces up to 20 years in prison. His sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 18.
A Los Angeles photographer previously said Byers had appeared on the covers of four romance novels.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
