Convicted El Paso bank robber arrested in new spree
A convicted El Paso bank robber who once worked as a strip club disc jockey was arrested Friday morning in connection with rash of bank robberies on the East Side.
Ever Johnson, 34, is suspected of wearing latex gloves, hoods and masks in five bank robberies since November, including Tuesday's robbery at gunpoint of the BBVA Compass bank at Montwood Mall, police said.
In addition to this week's robbery, Johnson is suspected in an April 11 attempted robbery and robberies on Jan. 20 and Dec. 6 of the BBVA bank branch at 1610 N. Zaragoza Road. by Vista Del Sol Drive.
He is accused of wearing a silver skull mask in the Nov. 3 robbery of the First Savings Bank at 1701 N. Saul Kleinfeld Dr. near Zaragoza Road, police said.
Johnson was released from federal prison and was on probation after serving a five-year sentence on a pair of bank robbery convictions in 2010, according to court documents.
The serial bank robbery case was cracked after two police detectives from the Pebble Hills Regional Command Center saw a car matching the description of the possible getaway vehicle in Tuesday's robbery, police officials said.
Officers with the Pebble Hills Tactical Unit then set up surveillance at various East Side locations and eventually saw Johnson leaving one of the locations in the vehicle, police said.
Johnson was stopped and arrested on three warrants — one drug possession charge and two counts of theft-of-service in cases unrelated to the bank robberies, police said.
Detectives with the Crimes Against Persons Unit later booked him on charges aggravated robbery, attempted robbery and three counts of robbery. An investigation continues. He was jailed under a $2,262,000 bond.
In March 2010, Johnson used a note to rob the Wells Fargo bank at Bassett Place, according to federal court documents.
After photos of the robber ran in the news media, the FBI received eight calls identifying the robber as Johnson, who was also known as "IQ" while working as a disc jockey at Foxy's strip club, a criminal complaint stated. He was arrested that April after allegedly robbing a bank in Colorado.
In September 2010, Johnson was sentenced to five years in federal prison, ordered to pay nearly $6,000 in restitution and three years of supervision after being released from prison, documents said.
Court documents stated that Johnson was under supervised release and undergoing outpatient drug treatment and that on April 4 admitted to using cocaine after a positive urine test in March.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.
