[Vision2020] Rangers as Robbers

[Tom Hansen]

>From the March 5, 2007 edition of the Army Times –

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Rangers as robbers?

5 soldiers charged in heist; alleged leader calls involvement a political statement

Gina Cavallaro – Army Times Staff writer

In May 2006, Spc. Luke Sommer got a $20,000 cash bonus for re-enlisting in the 75th Ranger Regiment. He soon spent it all on electronics, firearms and grenades.

Three months later, according to charges filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, Sommer and two of his Ranger buddies, plus two Canadian friends, pulled a bank heist near a gate into Fort Lewis, Wash.

They wore commando-style clothing and body armor and burst into the bank wielding AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons belonging to Sommer, according to an FBI investigation, indictments returned by a grand jury and Sommer himself. 

The robbery was carried out with “military-style precision,” according to court documents. No shots were fired, no one was hurt and the five assailants, who completed the robbery in two minutes, 21 seconds, made off with $54,011.

Investigators impounded the suspected getaway car the next morning; a witness had jotted down the license number of the fleeing vehicle. FBI agents found it parked inside the gated compound of 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis, where they reportedly recovered evidence of the crime and the identities of those involved.

Three Rangers and two Canadian citizens were quickly charged in the Aug. 7 robbery.

Sommer, who was pegged by authorities as the ringleader, does not deny his role in the heist, but said his attorney advised him against openly admitting to it because he is fighting extradition from Canada. He is living under house arrest, pending extradition proceedings, at his mother’s home in Peachland, British Columbia. 

while making no direct admission of the charges against him, Sommer, 20, provided Army Times a detailed description of the events that he said “only someone at the scene could have knowledge of.”

In a series of lengthy telephone interviews, Sommer said he enjoyed soldiering, but he launched into articulate and often bitter diatribes against the actions and attitudes of special operations soldiers in Iraq and at home base.

He consistently tied his own actions to noble, human rights-based motives, and acknowledged that he eventually will face U.S. and military authorities and the possibility of a life term in prison.

The account of the robbery below is based on the criminal charges filed in the case, the U.S. attorney’s office and Sommer’s own telling.

Bursting through the doors

It was 45 minutes to closing time Monday at the Bank of America branch two miles north of the post at Fort Lewis. About eight customers and bank employees were quietly going about their business when four people stormed in through two doors. Two of them brandished AK-47s. all were wearing black military-issue balaclavas purchased at the Fort Lewis post exchange and body armor under clothing also purchased at the PX. They have been identified as Sommer; Spc. Chad Palmer, 21; and Canadians Tigra Robertson, 20, and Nathan Dunmall, 18.

Palmer and Dunmall, who carried the AK-47 rifles, manned the bank’s doors while Sommer, who brandished a Glock 19 9mm handgun, leaped over the teller counter and behind the glass divider known as a bandit barrier. Robertson wielded a Springfield XD 9mm handgun, Sommer said.

Sommer said he then sought to calm a frightened teller.

“When we came in, one of the tellers, she was absolutely terrified, understandably so. So I walked over to her and I’m like, ‘look, I understand you’re stressed.’ and she’s like, ‘this is my first day;’ and I was like, ‘Oh, man, that sucks,’�” Sommer recalled, explaining that he coaxed her over to the doorway so she could “get out of the hustle.”

“I was like, ‘Just chill, go over to the door.’ I put my hand on her shoulder,” he said.

He said he told the other frightened tellers they would not be hurt by assuring them, “Look, everything that we wanted by walking into this bank was accomplished by just opening the door. So, you know, whether you give me $50,000 or you give me $5, I don’t care. You’re not going to get hurt.” 

According to the complaint, the heist was “extremely well organized” and “carried out with military-style precision and planning.” witnesses told investigators that one of the robbers was counting down time out loud to the other three. 

The robbers grabbed the money, in stacks of $20, $50 and $100 bills, bounded outside and jumped into a silver Audi A4 driven by Pfc. Alex Blum, 19, a close friend of Sommer’s from the same 2nd Battalion platoon. He co-owned the car with his father. 

The Audi sped off and a witness copied the number from the Colorado plate. The same witness said one of the suspects removed his mask before jumping into the car. 

Sommer identified that person as himself.

Uncovering evidence

The FBI traced the car to Blum’s father in Greenwood Village, Colo., and found it Aug. 8 in the south parking lot at the Ranger compound. That same morning investigators also found evidence in barracks Building 3475, where only a few soldiers were on hand because the unit had begun block leave at noon the day before, according to the complaint.

FBI agents found purple money bands with white stripes, which are consistent with packs of $2,000. The agents interviewed other Rangers, who told investigators they had seen rifles, handguns and grenades, “flash-bang” and fragmentation, in Sommer’s room. Other Rangers told of several hushed, closed-door meetings in the accused soldiers’ rooms in the weeks before the robbery.

The agents pried open the ceiling tiles above Sommer’s bed and found two AK-47 rifles stashed there. 

The night of the robbery, Palmer flew home to Norfolk, Va.; Blum flew to Denver the following morning, according to soldiers interviewed in the complaint.

Sommer said that after the robbery he took an overnight bus to Canada. He has dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship because his father is American and his mother Canadian.

He said he went home but deliberately left his cut of the take, $10,000, in his barracks room to prove he wasn’t in it for the money.

“We planned this thing so in detail it would blow your mind,” Sommer told Army Times. 

Nevertheless, the Rangers were identified within 48 hours, and other suspects were charged a few weeks later. 

Attorneys for the defendants could not be reached. 

Palmer has pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the case. Blum and Robertson pleaded not guilty and await trial. Dunmall is in Canada fighting extradition.

Sommer acknowledged using his bonus cash to buy three AK-47 rifles in the barracks from fellow soldiers who had brought them back from deployments in Afghanistan, and he purchased a computer that he said he used to plan the robbery. More weapons were purchased off post, he said. In all, Sommer purchased five handguns, four rifles, one shotgun, five grenades and an XBox video game console. 

The body armor worn during the robbery was government issued gear. Some of it, he said, was borrowed for the Canadians from other soldiers who Sommer said were unaware of its intended use. 

The master plan was hatched in the barracks and meticulously plotted, Sommer said. 

He said he visited the bank, where he kept an account, several times during the planning stages.

He lamented only one thing he said went wrong.

“Unfortunately, the one thing that didn’t go as planned was, my dad turned me in instead of allowing me to turn myself in,” Sommer said, explaining that he spent one month in jail in Canada before being released to his mother’s house. He was delayed in turning himself in, he said, because he wanted to attend his grandmother’s funeral.

He said he wanted to turn himself in as part of the big plan, which was to rob the bank and capitalize on the publicity to expose crimes he claims he witnessed in the war zone.

Being turned in outside of his plan denied him “the opportunity to make the statement that I wanted, so now it looks like I was fleeing, which is stupid.” 

Still, he said, “I managed to get what I wanted to say out to a certain degree.”

Ideological reason?

Sommer claims he robbed the bank because he wanted to draw the public’s attention to the fact that the government was looking the other way at the crimes U.S. troops commit against Iraqis or Afghans, even though it would bring the full weight of the law to bear on something such as a bank robbery in the U.S. 

He alleges he witnessed or heard about robbery, rape and murders by troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It illustrates one very essential truth, that we are willing to tolerate it when it’s against other people, but when it’s against us, we will prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law,” Sommer said.

In Seattle, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Dion sees Sommer’s claim of an ideologically motivated robbery in quite a different light.

“The evidence will show that he and some of the other conspirators were planning to start a criminal organization in Canada and that they wanted funding for it and that that’s what this robbery was about,” said Dion, who is leading the effort to extradite Sommer and two alleged co-conspirators from Canada.

“We seized and searched Sommer’s computer and found e-mail conversations and instant message conversations that laid out some of those plans, and some in the bank robbery conspiracy told us about the crime family plan,” Dion said.

Facing the possibility of life imprisonment and additional charges by the Army, such as weapons storage violations and charges of being absent without leave, Sommer staunchly maintains his motives were based not on monetary gain, but on deep, personal convictions and the certainty of getting caught, which would provide a public forum.

He was declared AWOL and dropped from the battalion’s payroll after he failed to return from block leave at the end of August. He continues to be on AWOL status, according to the battalion, and Sommer said he has received letters from his commander explaining that the process of separating him from the Army is underway.

Longtime goal

Sommer had dreamed of becoming a Ranger since childhood and joined the Army in Bellingham, Wash., on June 26, 2003, the day he turned 17.

In May 2004, he reported to Fort Lewis, and the following month, shortly after he turned 18, he was deployed to meet up with 2nd Battalion’s 1st Platoon, the “Madslashers,” in Baghdad.

It was there, shortly after he landed in the compound the platoon shared with other special operations soldiers, that Sommer claims he witnessed the first crime by U.S. soldiers while out on a mission.

“The day I got to my platoon overseas, two guys robbed a family at gunpoint of $3,000, their entire life savings, in Iraqi currency.” 

That alleged incident — which he raised after he was identified as a suspect in the robbery — was not confirmed by the Army. Sommer also claims to have been one of several people who witnessed the rape of a female detainee by a special operations soldier in uniform. The allegation also was raised after the robbery and was “unsubstantiated,” according to the Army, which stated that a full investigation was conducted once the allegations surfaced.

“His allegations were completely unfounded and unsubstantiated in the evidence in the criminal inquiry. All allegations of abuse and other criminal conduct were proved to be without merit,” stated U.S. Army Special Operations Command public affairs officer Carol Darby, who said the investigation was completed by USASOC and the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command within two months of the robbery.

The allegations of the alleged crimes were given to authorities in Canada and referred to the Army in writing, said Sommer, who said he was never interviewed by U.S. investigators about any of the charges.

He said that he stood out among the troops in the Madslashers for his outspokenness and that he was influential because he didn’t “smoke” — work to the point of exhaustion — young soldiers who were learning the ropes.

“I was willing to criticize everything and call everyone sheep, and be like, you know what, as much fun as it is to go kick doors and blow things up, we’ve got to do it right or we’re just going to end up being as bad as the Nazis.”

Sommer remained adamant in his interviews with Army Times that his dissatisfaction with the Army and his motives for lashing out were not tied to making money.

“I’m smart. If I wanted to make money, I’d sell pot. If I wanted to make money, I’d sell heroin. If I wanted to make money, I’d be a professional assassin. You know, like there are so many different things,” he said. “What do I need to rob a bank for?” 

The accused
Three Rangers and two civilians were charged in connection with an alleged bank robbery Aug. 7 near Fort Lewis, Wash. The Rangers were members of C Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. The U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle identified the suspects:

•Spc. Luke E. Sommer, 20, the alleged ringleader, was charged with armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, brandishing a machine gun during a crime of violence, possession of a machine gun, three counts of possession of a hand grenade and one count of possession of an explosive bomb. He is fighting extradition while under house arrest in British Columbia, Canada. His first extradition hearing is scheduled for May 29 in Canada.

•Pfc. Chad Palmer, 21, pleaded guilty in December to armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and brandishing a machine gun during a crime of violence. He is at the federal detention center in Seatac, Wash., and his sentencing is set for Aug. 3.

•Pfc. Alex Blum, 19, suspected of having driven the getaway vehicle, was charged with armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and brandishing a machine gun during a crime of violence. He is at the federal detention center in Seatac, Wash. He is scheduled to go to trial April 9 in Tacoma, Wash.

Two Canadian citizens, said to be Sommer’s friends, also were charged in connection with the robbery:

•Nathan Dunmall, 18, was charged with armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and brandishing a machine gun during a crime of violence. He is fighting extradition to the United States.

•Tigra Robertson, 20, was charged with armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and brandishing a machine gun during a crime of violence. Robertson was released on bond and is living in Canada. He has appeared in court in the U.S. He has pleaded not guilty and is slated to go on trial April 9.

Two other 2nd Battalion Rangers also were charged in connection with the case but are not alleged to have taken part in the bank robbery:

•Spc. Scott Byrne, 32, was charged with aiding and abetting the bank robbery by advising Sommer and helping in the planning of the robbery. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bond. His attorney could not be reached. Byrne will be tried with Blum.

•Cpl. Richard Olinger, 21, pleaded guilty to storing hand grenades and a homemade bomb for Sommer. He was released on bond and his sentencing is set for June 1. 

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.