YOUR AD HERE »

Bank robbers posed with wads of cash

Matt Zalaznick
Special to the Daily Luke Carroll, in an unidentified bathroom, holding money from the WestStar bank robbery.
ALL |

VAIL ” Pictures of Vail bank robbers Luke Carroll and Anthony Prince smiling and showing off wads of $20 bills were released Friday by federal law enforcement agencies in Denver. Also released were photos showing bags of $50 and $100 bills from the heist.

Seasonal ski-shop employees, Prince and Carroll used BB guns to hold up the WestStar bank on Hanson Ranch Road in Vail, making off with approximately $130,000 March 21. They were carrying some of the money when they were arrested the following day at Denver International Airport, trying to catch a flight to Mexico.

Federal investigators found more cash from the robbery in trash cans at the airport. Investigators also say the pair tried to mail some of the money to Australia and also bought jewelry.



The duo, now serving time in prison, was dubbed “Dumb and Dumber” by the press in their native Australia and New Zealand, where the story of the ill-fated robbery made national headlines.

Last month, Carroll, 19, was sentenced to five years in prison while Prince received a 4-1/2-year term. They were fined more than $21,000 to make up for money not recovered from the robbery.

Support Local Journalism



The pair admitted to casing the bank three days before the robbery and gathering clothes they thought would conceal their identities.

But police were on the pair’s trail shortly after the robbery. Tellers at the bank recognized their accents because the two had been customers, and they wore name tags similar to those worn at the Bridge Street ski shop where they worked.

Those descriptions reminded Vail police they had arrested Carroll and Prince earlier in the year for allegedly shooting paint balls at a house in East Vail.

Vail police turned over their mugshots to the FBI, which distributed the photos widely.

It was those photos that helped a Denver police detective recognize the pair in line at Denver International Airport.

Vail Colorado


Support Local Journalism