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Brandon Taylor; Mannie Willis; Bryanna Blades

RACINE, Wis. – All three persons accused in a 2021 Racine ATM robbery over $136,000 have now been sentenced.

Prosecutors have charged Brandon Taylor, 24, Mannie Willis, 25, and Bryanna Blades, 24, all of Houston, in the case.

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Case details

It happened at the Chase Bank on 21st Street on August 4, 2021. According to a criminal complaint, officers spoke with a man who was servicing ATMs at the bank when the robbery occurred.

Prosecutors said the worker noticed a masked man running toward him, followed by a second man. He feared for his safety and “backed out” from the ATM he was working at, and the two men took cash from the machine and fled. Several cameras in the area confirmed the worker’s story.

Based on video surveillance, investigators were able to identify a vehicle involved as one with a Texas license plate. The complaint said Chase Bank told investigators the thieves made off with more than $136,000.

Racine investigators reached out to jurisdictions around the world Wisconsin and Illinois in an attempt to identify the suspects’ vehicle. Later on the day of the robbery, the Illinois State Patrol spotted the vehicle and attempted to pull it over, but the driver took off, sparking a high-speed chase. The pursuit ended when “the suspect vehicle left the roadway and entered a cornfield.”

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Prosecutors said two men fled the scene of the crash and a woman in the car, since identified as Blades, remained at the scene. She identified the two men who ran away from their social media – Taylor and Willis. Blades went on to say that she and the two men were “driving north to commit the robberies.”

Blades said they first robbed a restaurant employee who was making a deposit Illinoisaccording to the complaint. They then went to Racine for the Chase Bank robbery. On Blades’ phone, police found “photographs of black trash bags full of money in the back seat of the car.” Court records say the photos were taken after the robbery and the text messages indicated they “needed help and had a lot of money.”

After an extensive, multi-jurisdictional search, the complaint said Taylor and Willis were apprehended separately in cornfields.

In court

Taylor pleaded guilty in 2022 to robbery, and a charge of robbery of a financial institution was dismissed. He was sentenced in 2023 to six years in prison and four years of extended supervision.

Willis pleaded no contest in July to robbery, and a charge of robbery of a financial institution was dismissed. He was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison – with transfer to a facility in Texas allowed. He was also sentenced to four years of extended supervision.

Blades pleaded guilty Oct. 25 to theft of movable property, and charges of robbery and robbery of a financial institution were dismissed. She was sentenced to 14 months in the Racine County Jail and given credit for time served.