Jonathan Wayne Lanaute, Bank Robbery, Louisiana 2024

Jonathan Wayne Lanaute, a 40-year-old man from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has pleaded guilty to bank robbery, according to a statement from United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr.

Lanaute entered United Community Bank on Bluebonnet Boulevard in Baton Rouge on the morning of May 3, 2024, and handed a bank teller a handwritten note stating "give me all the money in the cash resgister [sic] before everybody die in here." The teller, fearing bodily harm, directed the bank’s computer to dispense $100 bills.

Lanaute waited for the bills to be dispensed, fidgeting in his sweatshirt pockets as if he had a firearm. He then took the money from the teller and attempted to leave the building. However, he returned to retrieve additional bills that the machine had dispensed.

Law enforcement was dispatched to the scene and retrieved video footage from the bank’s surveillance system. The footage showed Lanaute entering the bank wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and a black Saints baseball cap, and fleeing the scene in a dark colored sedan with a spoiler on the rear of the vehicle.

Law enforcement identified the vehicle as a dark grey Mitsubishi Lancer, which had been reported stolen during an armed robbery near the bank the previous night. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but Lanaute refused and a high-speed pursuit ensued.

During the pursuit, Lanaute drove the vehicle into ongoing traffic, ran another motorist off the road, and drove in the wrong direction on the interstate. The pursuit ended when Lanaute crashed head-on into an innocent motorist on the interstate. He then fled on foot, but was apprehended after a short chase.

Lanaute was wearing the same clothing as seen in the bank’s video surveillance, and approximately $8,207.89 was recovered from his person. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Baton Rouge Police Department, and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Kristen Lundin Craig is prosecuting the case.

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