Cleveland Heights bank robb arrest.jpg

Cleveland Heights police and federal agents have arrested six people in connection with three bank robberies, including two people who were charged in U.S. District Court.

(Adam Ferrise, NEOMG)

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio— A bank robbery suspect was identified by federal agents because he posted a photograph of himself on Instagram clutching a fistful of money, court affidavits say.

Rodney E. Johnson Jr., 21, of Cleveland, was charged Tuesday in U.S. District Court with bank robbery and using a gun during a violent crime. State prison records say he was released from prison Sept. 23 after serving four years for an aggravated robbery and abduction conviction.

His girlfriend, Nautica Merritt, 20, of Cleveland, is accused of being the getaway driver and a 17-year-old is accused of helping rob the Fifth Third Bank on Cedar Road.

Both Merritt and Johnson were ordered detained at their initial appearance in U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Nancy A. Vecchiarelli's courtroom.

The trio is accused of stealing $6,701 from the bank, the affidavit says.

FBI agents had said they believe the Fifth Third Bank robbery and two other bank robberies in Cleveland Heights since Nov. 22 were related. Charges against the 17-year-old Cleveland boy in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court also accuse the boy of participating in a criminal gang.

The boy pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court to charges including first-degree felony aggravated robbery with a firearm, criminal gang specifications, eight counts of unlawful restraint and eight counts of aggravated menacing.

Juvenile Court Magistrate Elizabeth Howe set a hearing Jan. 6 in front of Judge Pattrick Corrigan. Howe also ordered the boy be detained. The order says the case could eventually be bound over to adult Common Pleas Court. That will be decided at a later hearing.

Charges were also filed Thursday in Cleveland Heights Municipal Court against Lavontrae Durden, 19, of Cleveland, accusing him of robbing the Ohio Savings Bank on Lee Road on Nov. 22 and the First Merit Bank Dec. 3 on Severance Circle, which is less than 400 yards from the Cleveland Heights Police Department.

A fifth man, Nathaniel A. Wright Jr., 18, of Cleveland Heights, was also charged Thursday in Cleveland Heights Municipal Court with the aggravated robbery of the Ohio Savings and Loan Bank, records say.

Cleveland Heights police and at least one federal agent

Officers removed the group from a Chevy Impala, which they subsequently searched.

Cleveland Heights police refused to provide information about those arrests.

Charges against one other adult have not been filed in municipal, county or federal courts.

The affidavit says investigators received an anonymous tip that a photo of Johnson was on Instagram holding the money. FBI agents and Johnson's probation officer matched the photo to surveillance photos of the robbery, according to the affidavit.

They also noted he was wearing the same eyeglasses during the robbery as he wore in his photo on Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway— the state's crime database shared between police agencies.

The affidavit says Johnson and the 17 year old walked through the back door of the bank on Dec. 7, Johnson wearing a hat with a face covering and the boy with a handkerchief over his face.

The 17-year-old hopped over the counter and yelled "This is a robbery, this is a hold up. Open your drawers," the affidavit says.

Johnson, the affidavit says, pointed a silver handgun at employees and customers. An employee snuck out of the bank and called 911, the affidavit says.

At one point Johnson told the boy "Don't forget those $10 (bills)."

The two then fled. The affidavit says the robbery took 51 seconds. Investigators noted the dye packs in the bank bags never exploded.

Merritt and Johnson told investigators they drove back to a Hull Avenue home in Cleveland— where Johnson was eventually arrested Dec. 11 — and split the money, according to records.

Merritt drove to her job at a Bedford Heights Subway. Johnson gave the revolver back to the 17-year-old and the two eventually drove with the boy's cousin to TK Auto Sales on St. Clair Avenue, records state. The two bought a Chevy Monte Carlo and a Chevy Impala.

It is unknown if the Chevy Impala that was pulled over on Monday was the Impala bought after the robbery.

Records say Johnson is currently on probation after he was convicted in 2010 of aggravated robbery with a firearm and abduction. He was sentenced to four years in prison and five years of parole.

Durden, records say, is currently facing aggravated theft, burglary and criminal damaging charges in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. He was free on $5,000 bond in that case when he was arrested on Monday.