Texas man charged with robbing Springfield bank

A Big Springs, Texas, man was charged in federal court Friday with robbing a Springfield branch of Peoples Bank of the Ozarks.

Clark Wayne Kirkman was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

According to the complaint, Kirkman allegedly entered the Peoples Bank branch at 3000 W. Republic Road on the morning of May 27. He handed a bag to the teller, allegedly telling her that his wife had been taken hostage and that he and his wife would be killed if he didn't rob the bank and return with money. The teller gave him $386 and he left the bank, according to an affidavit.

The complaint also alleges that Kirkman entered the Commerce Bank branch at 2770 W. Republic Road, three blocks from the Peoples Bank branch, later that morning and presented the same story, leaving the bank with another $227.

An Oregon County sheriff's deputy recognized both Kirkman and his vehicle as matching the descriptions from the bank robberies at a grocery store parking lot in Thayer that evening, and Kirkman was arrested.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri cautioned in its news release that the complaint is simply an accusation and is not evidence of guilt. The case was investigated by the FBI, the Oregon County Sheriff's Department and the Thayer Police Department.[[In-content Ad]]