STARKVILLE — A Starkville man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for robbing the Renasant Bank on East Lampkin Street in September 2021.
Laquavis Collier, 32, decided to enter a guilty plea to a robbery charge as jury selection was underway for trial this week in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court, Assistant District Attorney Trina Davidson-Brooks said. Judge Jim Kitchens sentenced him to 15 years total, with five of them suspended.
Davidson-Brooks said Collier walked into the main Renasant branch downtown and asked to talk to someone about opening a checking account.
“He met with a banker and made a threat and asked for all the money in the bank,” she said. “The banker went to the teller and got money in a bag and gave it to (Collier).”
Collier, who was not wearing a mask, put the money in his pants and walked away from the bank, Davidson-Brooks said.
“His face was captured on video surveillance in the bank,” she said.
Officers stopped him at the intersection of Gillespie and Spring streets shortly after. The money, a little more than $6,000, was recovered.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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