A man who told police he was out of work and owed people money has been arrested and accused of robbing two Sandy credit unions in two weeks using demand notes that both ended with "thank you."
Alan Khalid Karam, 39, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Monday for investigation of two counts of aggravated robbery.
Karam is accused of robbing Cyprus Credit Union, 9383 S. 700 East, on Monday, and Mountain America Credit Union, 858 E. 9400 South, on July 2.
On Monday, the man presented the teller with a note stating, "'This is a stick up! I need $12,000 on the counter now! Or I will shoot. No dye packs No GPS No alarms/Don't be a hero. Please don't be a hero — people will die! You have five seconds before I shoot — Thank you," according to a police booking affidavit.
A similar note, also ending with "Thank you," was used in the July 2 robbery, the affidavit states.
Karam was identified as a possible suspect after the Utah State Crime Lab was able to match fingerprints pulled from one of the robbery notes, according to the affidavit. Police held surveillance on his home and arrested him shortly after he got into his car and started to drive. He was then questioned by Sandy police and an FBI agent.
Karam told investigators that he was unemployed and "was denied state assistance benefits as well," the affidavit states.
"Mr. Karam informed us that he owes several people money and added that these individuals are aware of his family and children. Mr. Karam did not wish to discuss specifics of who these individuals were. He reported that an associate told him he could make money by robbing banks. Mr. Karam reported that he conducted internet searches on bank robbery demand notes and that is how he came up with the verbiage used in the notes from both of the robberies," according to the affidavit.
He claimed that before each robbery, he stopped a short distance away from the banks to contemplate whether he should go through with it, but then received a text message from the person he owed money, which prompted him to commit the robberies, the affidavit says.