Second Dubuque man charged in Maquoketa bank robbery

A Dubuque man accused of robbing the Fidelity Bank in Maquoketa in March was charged in federal court Monday.

Dante Rhodes, 40, was charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery. He is accused of going into Fidelity Bank, 18298 Highway 64, about 1:50 p.m. on March 8 and handing a bank teller a note saying 'Give me your money, I have a gun,” a search warrant affidavit shows. He then told the teller to place the money in a garbage bag. Rhodes took $6,543 in cash.

Court documents show bank employees told authorities the robber left in a silver SUV, driving north on U.S. 61. He was described to police as a black man, wearing a large white winter jacket and what appeared to be a wig with braids.

Maquoketa police, after responding to the bank robbery, found out Gregory Stapleton, who was with Rhodes and charged earlier in this case, opened an account the day before, court documents show. One teller said that it seemed unusual to her because Stapleton is a Dubuque resident and why wouldn't he open the account at the Fidelity branch in Dubuque.

About the same time officers received that information, other officers out looking for the suspects pulled over a silver Chevrolet SUV, going north on Highway 61, towards Dubuque, according to the affidavit. Stapleton was the driver and his passenger was another man, Erick Wilson. Stapleton was later charged and Wilson was later released.

The affidavit shows about 30 minutes after the bank robbery, police located a silver Buick SUV traveling north on Highway 61, near the Dubuque Regional Airport. Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop but the driver, later identified as Rhodes, refused to stop and led officers on a high speed chase, which resulted in the Envoy crashing into multiple vehicles and having a head-on crash with a police vehicle.

Rhodes then got out of the SUV and ran from police but officers deployed tasers and arrested Rhodes, according to the affidavit.

Officers said a large amount of cash was 'blowing in the wind” after the collision and during a search of the SUV several bundles of money, totaling $3,215, and clothing that matched the description of what the robber was wearing were recovered.

Authorities believe Stapleton opened up his account the day before to 'case the bank” before the robbery and then served as the 'lookout” while Rhodes robbed the bank, court documents show.

l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com