710 Locust Street Knoxville, Tennessee 37902 December 18, 2006
NEWS RELEASE The Knoxville Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV announce the arrest of Thomas A. Phelan in connection with the robbery of the Tennessee Members First Federal Credit Union. At the time of the arrest, Phelan was also wanted on bank robbery charges in Youngstown, Ohio. At approximately 10:39 this morning, a lone white male, with a salt and pepper beard, who appeared to be in his 40s, entered the Tennessee Members First Federal Credit Union at 9307 Kingston Pike in Knoxville, Tennessee. The man displayed a dark semi-automatic handgun and announced the robbery. He was wearing a dark sweatshirt with an insignia on it, as well as a knit cap or bandana which had a Harley Davidson insignia. He also wore dark boots with flames painted on them. The man took an undetermined amount of money and left on foot heading west. An off duty officer with the Knoxville Police Department saw a man meeting that description exiting a convenience store on Campbell Station Road. The man left in a limousine. The officer was able to follow while calling for assistance. The limousine was stopped just south of the Lenoir City exit off I-75 South by units of the Knoxville Police Department, FBI, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Knox County Sheriff's Department, Loudon County Sheriff's Department, and the Lenoir City Police Department. The man arrested was identified as Thomas A. Phelan, age 50, of Austintown, Ohio, who was wanted on a federal warrant out of the Northern District of Ohio charging him with the armed robbery on December 6, 2006, of the Charter One Bank located at 3525 Canfield in Youngstown, Ohio. The investigation into the Knoxville robbery is continuing. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.