FBI: told dispatchers what we knew

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The head of the local FBI office told Target 8 investigators he was not withholding information from Muskegon dispatchers when he called them to give them a heads-up about 15 minutes before Kristopher Cheyne and Derryl LaFave robbed the ChoiceOne Bank in Ravenna on Oct. 13.

That robbery ended less than an hour later with the deaths of Walker Police Office Trevor Slot and the robbers along the side of an exit ramp on I-96.

Though John King wouldn't go on camera, he told Target 8 he wasn't withholding information when he didn't provide a vehicle description to a dispatcher:

"We are right now tracking a couple individuals up in the Muskegon County area around Ravenna. ... And, so if there happens to be a bank robbery come out, can you make sure we end up getting a phone call?"

The dispatcher asked if he had a vehicle description.

"Ah, not at this time," King told the dispatcher.

At that time, he told Target 8 Friday, he didn't have a vehicle description for Cheyne and LaFave.

However, it was his agent shortly after the robbery who told dispatchers they had GPS on a vehicle. That was the blue Bravada -- their second getaway car. The agent gave a detailed description of the Bravada, and the names of the suspects -- Derryl Lafave and Kristopher Cheyne.
 
"Can you copy this plate? CHS 9030. That's the suspects," said FBI Task Force member Pat Harig.

Seconds later, it was the dispatcher who asked a colleague: "Can somebody run that plate?"

"We have it already," an FBI agent said. "Comes back to an address in Grand Rapids which is probably where they're heading."

The FBI agents -- investigating the suspects for earlier bank robberies -- also knew what kinds of weapons they might be using.

"They used an M4 and a shotgun in ours, two of them. Not sure on yours," Harig said.

The suspects originally fled from the bank in a black Chevrolet Blazer stolen the day before. King says  agents did not know about that vehicle until after the robbery.

King also told Target 8 that the GPS on the Bravada had technical limitations and couldn't provide pinpoint accuracy.

However, it appeared his agents knew where the suspects had been before the robbery.

Harig said, "On that bank robbery, there is a black Blazer 2600 E. Slocum. We had our suspects in there before the bank robbery, so I'm sure that's it.'

It was at 2600 South Slocum where police found the Blazer.

The chase started just south of Ravenna -- with FBI agents in an unmarked car ahead of the suspects.

And, a short time later, shots fired at other police officers in pursuit.

The FBI's John King wants to make it clear that his agents did not witness the robbery and did not know it was about to happen. Dispatch tapes reviewed by Target 8 appear to show they didn't know which bank might be targeted.