Dougherty gang: Were they plotting to hide out in Mexico?
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
The Dougherty gang -- the trio of siblings that triggered a nationwide search when they set out on what police describe as a cross-country crime spree -- were planning to high-tail it to Mexico using the money they stole in a bank robbery, authorities say.
Colorado District Judge Claude Appel ruled in a hearing Tuesday that prosecutors have enough evidence to place the three on trial for charges ranging from bank robbery to attempted murder for shooting at police officers. The three have been dubbed ‘Bonnie & Clyde & Clyde.’
Ryan Edward Dougherty, 21, his brother Dylan Stanley-Dougherty, 26, and their sister Lee Grace Dougherty, 29, have not yet entered pleas. They are slated to be back in the Colorado courtroom Thursday for a scheduling conference.
New details emerged this week about the trio and their alleged activities and plans. A detective testified in court that the younger brother was the mastermind behind the scheme. If all went according to plan, according to an Associated Press report, the siblings were to begin with a bank robbery in Georgia and end with a cross-the-border run to Mexico.
Ryan Dougherty hatched the idea day he was sentenced to register as a sex offender for sexting an 11-year-old girl, said Colorado Springs police Det. Larry Dyer, according to the report.
“During the interview, he pretty much led me to believe that he was the mastermind of this plan,” Dyer is quoted as saying. The trio was captured in Colorado, where the hearing was held.
The siblings were armed and ready for trouble, according to other testimony. They reportedly had at least nine firearms, including two AK-47-type rifles and two shotguns. The siblings told law enforcement officers they never intended to hurt anyone.
The crime spree allegedly started in Florida, included a bank-robbing pit stop in Georgia, as well as stints in Alabama, Mississippi and Texas before it ended last month with the exchange of gunfire in Colorado and the siblings’ subsequent arrest.
The three were in trouble with the law before they allegedly went on the lam. In addition to Ryan Dougherty’s text messaging with a minor, Dylan Dougherty faced a possession-of-marijuana charge and Lee Grace Dougherty faced several felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with a May hit-and-run as well as a possible probation violation and alleged aggravated battery.
ALSO:
Space taxis move closer to reality
U.S. hikers released from Iranian jail
Clock ticks toward execution of Troy Davis in Georgia
--Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch
