Mesa man arrested in connection with bank robbery

Terrell Maurice Mars, 47, of Mesa, was arrested on April 18 and charged by criminal complaint in connection with a bank robbery.

The complaint filed in this case alleges that on April 18 Mars entered a credit union in Mesa waving what appeared to be a handgun and directed the employees and customers to get down, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

Mars then demanded money from the tellers and later the bank manager, who complied. After leaving the credit union with the stolen cash, witnesses observed Mars flee on an electric scooter, the release states.

Mesa Police Department patrol officers responded to a dispatch about the bank robbery and located Mars hiding under a truck in a nearby apartment parking lot. He was taken into custody without incident and was found in possession of the same amount of cash that was stolen from the credit union. Police officers also found a hot glue gun near Mars that looked like the ostensible handgun he was seen carrying in credit union surveillance video, the release states.

A criminal complaint is a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation in this case, with assistance from the Mesa Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Schesnol, District of Arizona, Phoenix, is handling the prosecution.