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U.S. marshals search for an Ethiopian bank robbery suspect

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

By Scott McCabe | Examiner

U.S. marshals continue to hunt for a college student accused of abducting a Prince George’s County family in a failed bank robbery scheme last month.

Authorities are asking for the public’s help in capturing Beruk Ayalneh, 24, a native of Ethiopia. Ayalneh was one of three men who allegedly broke into the home of an assistant bank manager last month and held the woman, her husband and two boys at gunpoint overnight. The other two suspects, Yosef Tadele, 23, of Silver Spring and Yohannes T. Surafel, 24, of the District remain behind bars on kidnapping, armed robbery and assault charges.

Police say the trio’s plan was to keep the children, ages 8 and 11, as hostages and force the woman to take money from the SunTrust branch where she worked in Silver Spring. The father convinced the robbers to allow them to bring the children with them to the bank.

But on the way, the father, James Spruill, foiled the plot after he saw a Maryland state trooper. Spruill began driving erratically until the trooper flashed on his cruiser’s emergency lights. Only one of the kidnappers, Surafel, was in the vehicle, but his gun was trained on the 11-year-old boy.

When the trooper asked Spruill for his license, the father jumped at the gunman and pinned him down.

U.S. marshals hope Ayalneh, who is a student at Howard University and has no criminal history, will surrender. Surafel has already tried to kill himself in a holding cell in the College Park barracks, police said.

“[Ayalneh] is not a sophisticated criminal mastermind who’s well-schooled in running and hiding,” said Matthew Burke, supervisory inspector with the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. “We hope his inexperience will help us.”

Ayalneh, who is a U.S. citizen of Ethiopian descent, is from the Northern Virginia area and has ties to D.C. and the Maryland suburbs. He is 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds.

Anyone with information on Ayalneh’s whereabouts can call the U.S. Marshals Service at 301-489-1717 or 800-336-0102. Law enforcement authorities are offering a reward for information leading to Lee’s arrest.

The Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, run by the U.S. Marshals Service, is composed of 28 federal, state and local agencies from Baltimore to Norfolk. The unit has captured 19,000 wanted fugitives since its creation in 2004.

10 thoughts on “U.S. marshals search for an Ethiopian bank robbery suspect”

  2. Hey guys
    the news of ethiopians getting involved in serious crimes such as bank robbery, homicide, hit and run etc is becoming a common news. What is going wrong ? Can smbody give us some analysis abt what is going on the ethiopian society in the US?

  4. Ethiopians please tell the police the where about of this disgrace to all Ethiopians. That is how you can clean the names of law abiding and hard working Ethiopians, which these selfish and lazy people abused. It will also serve as an example to others not to walk this way. These kinds of people should never expect shelter from Ethiopian community.
    Thank you.

  6. I am sad to hear such news. Ethiopians are known for hard work and are peaceful people. My assumption is that these youngsters are born here and disobeyed their parents advice and up bringing. I am so sorry for their parents. Tinatu yistachew le-wolajochu.

    I hope this will be a lesson learned for the younger Ethiopians.

  7. Family value is constantly challenged by children of emmigrant Ethiopians. Thanks to the school system, the welfare system and the tv system, they pretend to serve communities but in actuality give a cover for the mushrooming of anti-social youngsters. Parents are left out helpless.

  8. These guys are products of a nation where families have become disfunctional during the last 35 years. In the early seventies the only bank robbery committed by those who came here from Ethiopia was the one committed by an Eritrean. He did that in Canada not for his presonal gain(he claimed) but we heard he did that to help his friends in the Eritrean Liberation Fronts. What a joke!!!! But it was a crime nonetheless. There should be no excuse for such violent crime that can cost innocent human lives. These hudlums should be arraigned, convicted and thrown in jail for at least 15 years to life. They think bank robbery is a manifestation of being civilzed. Ekekams!!!!

  9. TOO MUCH HOLLYWOOD.Beating the system is the hollywood’s fictitious culture.Not ours .Our Ethiopian-American community is mostly first generation hardworking Immigrant.

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