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Bank heist heroes get rewarded
By Mary Madewell
The Paris News
Published April 30, 2006
A Paris man who used his bicycle to chase a suspect in a bank robbery and a Slabtown man who shot the suspect later that day were rewarded Friday with five crisp $100- bills.
On the afternoon of April 13, Bryce Chambers was in the People’s Bank branch on Collegiate Drive when a man walked in and demanded money.
Johnny Piper, who lives near Slabtown, shot Michael Paul Hammonds, 32, later that night after the suspect walked into his yard followed by several tracking dogs.
Hammonds remains in Lamar County Jail charged with robbery. He was released from Paris Regional Medical Center earlier in the month.
Chambers, who engaged Hammonds and a companion in a brief chase, tells his story.
“I came in to withdraw some money that day, and all of a sudden the guy just came in and asked the teller twice for the money, and she gave it to him,” Chambers said.
“I scooted out to the side and let him do his thing and then walk out, and I followed out behind him, the Paris native explained.
“I thought he was just playing at first,” Chambers said. “I was pretty much scared when I realized it was for real.”
Chambers was not too afraid to follow the man.
“I stayed several feet behind him, but close enough to tell what he looked like,” Chambers said, adding he later gave descriptions to officers.
“I rode across the street on my bicycle where he was parked,” Chambers said of a spot behind a car wash. “It took him three or four tries to get his truck running.”
“I got a good look at the truck,” Chambers added, describing the vehicle as “turquoise blue and gray, missing the tail end and a door off the camper shell.” He also remembered the tag number.
Meanwhile, Chambers said a girl came out of a store on the corner.
“She came running out, and some other dude who was calling the police department told the girl the guy just robbed the bank,” Chambers said.
“She looked inside the truck, looked around and then hopped in the truck and took off with him,” Chambers said of the woman he described as “a white female, blonde-headed and heavy-set.”
Chambers engaged in pursuit on his bicycle.
“I followed them all the way up the hill until I lost him at the Y,” Chambers said of Collegiate Street where it connects with Carson and Clark streets.
Later that night, Piper shot Hammonds, sending a 20-gauge shotgun shell through both legs.
The shot ended a five-hour manhunt involving several law enforcement agencies, a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter and tracking dogs from the Choice Moore State Jail in Bonham.
Terry Christian, People’s Bank president, credited the two men with “preserving the bank’s money” — about $14,000.
“How many people would have pursued a bank robber on a bicycle?” Christian asked. “We appreciate what he did.”
“We probably would not have gotten as quick of a recovery of our money,” Christian said. “Because of him getting a license number and description of the vehicle, officers were able to get on the truck real quick.”
A call immediately went out and DPS trooper Johnny Williams pursued the vehicle to the Sulphur River bottom, where the man fled into the woods.
Quick timing “preserved our money,” Christian said.
“Most of the time those guys will find a way to stash the money or throw it away as they run through the woods,” Christian said.
“I think the quick response by the enforcement agencies, with his, Mr. Chambers’, assistance, worked,” Christian said. “And then ultimately, Mr. Phifer finalized it later in the evening and helped us all.”
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