Attempted robbery suspects charged as youthful offenders

Two local boys are being charged as youthful offenders after an alleged attempted robbery Friday on a local bank.

Lucas Ray Page, 16, and Erwin Joseph Alvermann, 17, are both being charged with attempted robbery with an imitation firearm as a result of an incident alleged to have occurred on Nov. 2.

The Youthful Offender Act, which became effective on July 1, 1996, states that certain crimes perpetrated by a juvenile, including attempted robbery, may be considered youthful offenses. Unlike other juvenile crimes, those deemed youthful offender status are public record.

According to two probable cause affidavits in the case, police contend that around 4:58 p.m. on Friday, they received a call of an attempted robbery of the Bank of the West in the 100 block of Southeast Fourth Street. According to the report, the alleged perpetrators had fled southbound on bicycles.

A bank employee reportedly told police that two juvenile males had come to her teller window and “demanded money.” She said that one of the boys said they had a gun and she asked to see it. Reportedly, Alvermann put his hand in his pants pocket and displayed “the shape of what appeared to be a gun.” She said that after a bit he took his hand out his pocket “in the shape of a gun and pointed it at her.”

She then told them that if they wanted any money from the bank they would have to get it from “that big boy over there,” referring to the branch manager who was standing nearby. The branch manager told police that the boys then demanded money in one hundred dollar bills. He said that he thought they were playing and “laughed them out of the bank.” After he spoke to the teller and heard about the statements concerning a gun, the police were alerted.

Authorities say they were shown a security video of the incident and knew the two from “previous dealings” with them.

Both were taken into custody a short time later.

Bond was set in the cases at $10,000 each.