'This is not your money:' Men sentenced to prison after bank robbery, pursuit that ended with car in river
Joshua Robinson, William Jenious
GLENDALE -- Two men charged in connection with a bank robbery and police pursuit that ended in Glendale -- where their vehicle went into the Milwaukee River have been sentenced to prison.
Joshua Robinson, 29, of Milwaukee on May 1 pleaded guilty to one count of robbery of a financial institution. In court on Monday, May 7, he was sentenced to serve five years in prison and four years extended supervision. A restitution hearing was set for May 15.
His co-defendant, William Jenious Jr., 29, of Milwaukee pleaded guilty to one count of operator flee/elude officer-bodily harm or property damage and one count of second degree recklessly endangering safety. He was sentenced to serve seven years in prison and eight years extended supervision. This sentence was handed down last November.
The bank robbery happened at the US Bank on Brown Deer Road near Deerwood Drive in Brown Deer on June 8. A teller at the bank described the robber, identified as Robinson, as a man "with scruffy facial hair and dressed as a woman." Robinson was apparently "wearing a green jack with distinct patches, a tight red tank top with distinct writing on the front, tight black and white leggings, a black floppy hat, white mirror sunglasses, a black wig, red lipstick and what appeared to be fake breasts." The complaint says Robinson handed a note that said the following:
"Give me $20,000 in all small bills, no marked bills, no tracking devices! This is not your money so don't try to be a hero."
US Bank on Brown Deer Road
Another witness to the crime indicated he thought Robinson "had a weapon in his left hand, given he kept the left hand in his pocket." The complaint says Robinson got nearly $2,500 from the bank teller -- and then fled.
A pursuit followed the robbery. The complaint indicates Jenious was the driver of the getaway car. Speeds during the pursuit reached "approximately 95 mph" and Jenious apparently drove multiple times on the wrong side of the road.
Eventually, the pursuit ended up in yards of homes in Glendale. The complaint indicates "officers found the vehicle had plunged off the river bluff and into the river about 15 feet below." Multiple bills of U.S. currency were seen floating in the vehicle and in the river surrounding the vehicle.
Car in Milwaukee River after Brown Deer bank robbery and pursuit
The suspects initially ran from their half-submerged vehicle. One suspect was taken into custody near the crash site. The other was arrested on the Milwaukee River Parkway near the Oak Leaf Trail, after neighbors alerted officers.
The complaint indicates Jenious made a statement to police that he "didn't rob any bank."
Robinson told police he was "'sitting in the car when a (expletive) bust a move on a bank' before the 'car went into the swamp.'" The complaint says Robinson tried to claim that "a female name Porsha or T-baby was actually the one who robbed the bank." He denied knowing Jenious. The complaint goes on to say at one point, "Robinson said he was the driver of the vehicle, but changed his story several times and then claimed an unidentified female was the driver of the vehicle."
Car in Milwaukee River after Brown Deer bank robbery and pursuit