Man robbed California bank day after release from prison: DOJ

(KTLA) -- On May 7, Eric Walter Gray was released from state prison. On May 8, he did everything he could to get sent back, prosecutors say.

“One day after his release from [San Quentin Rehabilitation Center], this defendant allegedly chose to return to crime by taking three victims hostage while he robbed a bank,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

At that bank, a BMO branch in Anaheim, California, Gray, 53, loitered "for a long time" inside, then "allegedly jumped over the teller counter, stated that he had a gun, and demanded money from the teller," the release said.

Gray took money from the teller drawers, but that didn't seem to be enough, as he ordered the manager and two employees into a storage room so they could be held hostage, prosecutors allege.

Though the two employees were let out, the manager was a hostage for about an hour before Gray gave himself up, officials said.

"Law enforcement later found cash and narcotics hidden inside Gray’s body, court papers allege," the release added.

"Gray was taken to a hospital for a scan and, while there, allegedly repeatedly tried to escape and also fought with police officers, resulting in multiple injuries to the officers involved."

Gray is being held without bond by federal authorities, who received him from state custody on June 5. He was initially charged by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, though local prosecutors dismissed their case so he could be tried federally.

His arraignment is scheduled for June 24 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California.

If convicted of his charge — one count of bank robbery and forced accompaniment — Gray faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a max of 20 years.