Chesapeake Bandit Sentenced to 14 Years for $160,000 Armored Truck Heist

LOS ANGELES – In a brazen act of violence, James Russell Davis, a 35-year-old man from the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, has been sentenced to 166 months in federal prison for his role in the armed robbery of an armored truck in Hawthorne, California.

On February 16, Davis pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) and one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He has been in federal custody since March 2023.

The robbery, which netted the group more than $160,000 in cash, occurred on an unspecified date in February 2022. Davis and his co-conspirators scoped out a credit union in Hawthorne, planning to ambush the truck driver after he finished servicing an ATM. Several weeks later, they returned to the site, executing their planned armed robbery of the same armored truck driver refilling ATMs.

Davis maintained a lookout position, conducting counter-surveillance nearby, while his partners, armed with an AR-style rifle and a semi-automatic handgun, emerged from their vehicle. During the robbery, one of the conspirators forced the victim to the ground by pressing a firearm to his head while a co-conspirator took the victim’s service pistol from his waistband.

The victim was held at gunpoint while Davis’ co-conspirators took cash and customer checks from the ATMs and bags nearby. During the robbery, Davis’ co-conspirator discharged one of the handguns he was carrying. The group stole bags filled with a total of approximately $166,640 in cash belonging to the armored car company.

‘When people commit crimes with guns, tragedies happen. This is why it is so important that we bring the weight of federal prosecution against the perpetrators of violent gun crime,’ said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. ‘My office is committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to make our cities safer.’

‘Imagine the terror of being pulled to the ground with a gun pointed at your head. Davis and his accomplices violently ambushed an individual just doing his job so they could make off with other people’s money,’ said Krysti Hawkins, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. ‘This significant sentence cannot undo the emotional and psychological damage inflicted on the victim, but we hope it sends a clear message that we will continue to pursue the most violent and persistent offenders and hold them accountable for their blatant disregard for human life and the safety of our communities.’

Davis was ordered to pay $166,640 in restitution. His co-conspirators, including the case’s lead defendant, Deneyvous Jayan Hobson, 38, of the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, have pleaded not guilty to charges in this case. Hobson’s trial is scheduled for September 3. He is charged with one count of Hobbs Act conspiracy, one count of Hobbs Act robbery, one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

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