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Update: Two men are now charged with robbing a bank in Wichita on Friday. 33-year-old Leslie B. Cooper and 23-year-old Justin W. Cooper are charged with one count each of bank robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during the robbery.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court, Justin drove his brother, Leslie, to the Commerce Bank in the 1700 block of S. Broadway on March 17. Leslie entered the bank wearing a backpack, gloves and a scarf over his face carrying a Hi Point Model 995 9mm rifle.
Authorities say he vaulted the counter and brandished the rifle before taking some money and fleeing.
A Wichita police officer spotted him behind the bank surrounded by a cloud of red smoke caused by the bank's dye pack exploding.
Police say Cooper got into the getaway car and the two led police on a chase.
The younger brother surrendered at the end of the chase, but police say Leslie Cooper took off on foot, then broke into a house on S. Silver, where police found him hiding under a bed.
If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the bank robbery charge and a penalty of not less than seven years and not more than life and a fine up to $250,000 on the firearms charge.