UTC Bank Robber To Be Sentenced Friday

A woman who participated in a failed bank heist in which an accomplice was shot by a security guard is scheduled to be sentenced today in a downtown San Diego courtroom.

Laura Elshire, 43, pleaded guilty in November to robbery and also admitted possessing razor blades while in custody. She faces 33 years to life in prison.

Elshire was charged, along with Robert Anthony Hodge and Casey Allen Wilson, with holding up a Wells Fargo branch near La Jolla Village Drive, in which Wilson was shot in the face and arm.

During that June 11 robbery, Wilson told the teller to hurry and repeated the demand before switching on an electric stun gun he was carrying, according to court testimony.

A security officer, Luis Apodaca, testified at an earlier hearing that he realized what was happening and told Elshire, who was wearing a blond wig, to lie down on the floor along with Wilson. Instead, the witness said, Wilson began striding quickly toward the guard, prompting him to fire two shots.

Wilson ran out of the building with wounds to his face and one of his arms and got into a waiting car, which sped off. The getaway vehicle was allegedly driven by Hodge.

Inside the bank, while the two male suspects fled, the security guard said he again ordered Elshire to surrender. She refused and tried to flee, but the guard hit her over the head, tackled her and took her into custody, Apodaca testified.

About 45 minutes later, Wilson was dropped off at a hospital for treatment. Hodge was captured later in Mexico.

Hodge, 28, pleaded guilty to robbing six banks, including a second holdup at the La Jolla Village Wells Fargo branch. His sentencing is scheduled next month.

Wilson, also 28, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from two robberies and was sentenced to five years in prison.

—City News Service