Details are beginning to emerge about a suspect who has been arrested and charged locally with robbing a CornerBank branch in Winfield last week.
Vilayphone "Joe" Phimmala, 30, appeared in a Cowley County courtroom Wednesday and has been charged with a count of aggravated robbery.
Phimmala is being held in the Cowley County Jail without bond while the Federal Bureau of Investigation pursues federal charges against him, according to a jail spokesperson. The aggravated robbery charge will be dropped once federal charges are filed, Cowley County Attorney Chris Smith said.
"If we were going to continue to hold him he had to be charged with something," Smith said. "I expect that the state charge is a temporary thing."
Investigators believe it is Phimmala who entered the CornerBank South Branch at 1421 Main around 1 p.m. Friday, brandished a semi-automatic handgun and demanded money. He fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Winfield police Lt. Frank Owens acknowledged that there had been delays on the federal side, in regard to charging Phimmala. He was not entirely sure what caused the delays.
"It remains our intent for the feds to take this case over," Owens said.
At that point, he said, more specifics about the robbery may become public.
Owens did say that Phimmala is believed to have local ties to Winfield but it’s unclear exactly where he permanently resides. Phimmala was arrested early on the morning of July 4 about 12 hours after the robbery occurred.
Following up on leads in the case, police tracked down the suspect at the home of an associate of Phimmala’s who lives in Winfield, Owens said.
An online database compiled by the Kansas Department of Corrections shows Phimmala previously has served prison time for offenses in the late 1990s. He was convicted on one count of felony theft in Cowley County in 1997.
He served some time and completed his subsequent parole in March 2000.
