Man, stepson charged in South Hill bank robbery

Pierce County prosecutors contend a man and his stepson teamed up to rob a bank in South Hill earlier this week.

Clifford Cyr, 50, and Kyle Santos, 23, both pleaded not guilty Thursday to first-degree robbery. Santos, who allegedly acted as the getaway driver, is also charged with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle.

They are being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Charging documents give this account:

Cyr allegedly walked into a Heritage Bank branch in the 12800 block of Canyon Road East on Wednesday wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses. He handed a teller an envelope demanding cash.

As he fled the bank with the money, the teller called 911 and hit a security alarm. Another bank employee followed Cyr outside and jotted down the license plate of a Pontiac sedan used as the getaway car.

Santos was allegedly waiting behind the wheel.

Two deputies quickly responded and tried to pull over the Pontiac but the driver sped up to 70 mph on state Route 512, passing vehicles on the shoulder.

He endangered more than 100 drivers during the chase, records show.

The car went out of control and crashed on Portland Avenue, and the two men inside took off running. Deputies managed to take both into custody. Cyr was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries.

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Man, stepson charged in South Hill bank robbery."