Derrick Snulligan, Bank Robbery, Missouri 2024

A brazen bank robber terrorized St. Louis area employees for months, handing threatening notes to tellers before fleeing with cash. Now, the 62-year-old Velda Village Hills man responsible for the crimes is facing the music.

Derrick Snulligan, also known as Derrick Jackson, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in March to five counts of bank robbery. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced him to 107 months in prison.

The string of robberies began on April 18, 2023, when Snulligan handed a note demanding money to the teller of a bank in Northwoods, Missouri. He returned to the same bank on Aug. 28, 2023, and attempted a third time on Oct. 13, 2023, but a teller activated an alarm and told Snulligan to leave.

On June 24, 2024, his notes became more threatening. He handed a note to a Hazelwood credit union employee that read, “I[f] you don’t want to get hurt, go in your drawer and give me 6-one hundred dollar bills, 4-fifty dollar bills, 10-ten dollar bills, and 20-5 dollar bills as quickly as possible,” his plea agreement says. The teller handed cash to Snulligan, who fled.

Three days later, Snulligan handed a note to the teller of a St. Louis credit union demanding money. That same day, he committed a similar robbery at a Florissant credit union. His note read, “If you don’t want to get shot I suggest you go in your drawer and give me 30 one hundred dollar bill[s], 20 fifty dollar bills, 30, 20 dollar bills and 40, 10 dollar bills as quickly as possible.”

Derrick Snulligan terrorized bank employees who feared for their lives. Now, he’ll spend the next 9 years behind bars. The FBI, Florissant Police Department, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and Northwoods Police Department investigated the case.

The FBI St. Louis Division’s Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker said the sentence delivers justice for the trauma Snulligan caused. Snulligan repaid the rest of the money before sentencing.

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