710 Locust Street Knoxville, Tennessee 37902 December 6, 2006
NEWS RELEASE The Knoxville Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV of the Knoxville Police Department, and Tim Hutchison, Knox County Sheriff, announce the arrest today of Lila Strickland for the robbery of the Suntrust Bank at Northshore and Pellissippi. At approximately five minutes after nine this morning, a black female with blonde hair entered the Suntrust Bank at 9541 S. Northshore Drive. She displayed what witnesses described as an old dirty revolver which may not have had handgrips on it. She took an undisclosed amount of money and fled in a black four-door (extended or crew cab) Silverado pick up. Witnesses on the scene obtained the license plate of that vehicle. The arrest took place approximately thirty minutes later when units of the Knoxville Police Department and Knox County Sheriff's Department stopped the described vehicle. It is anticipated that Strickland will be afforded an initial appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge this afternoon in Knoxville. She is described as a thirty-nine year old black female, with addresses listed both in Louisville, Tennessee and in Rockford, Tennessee. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.