Ex-Employee Charged in 2004 Robbery of Credit Union

A former employee of Cedar Point Federal Credit Union in Leonardtown was arrested last week and charged with providing inside information to at least two men who robbed the institution in 2004 of more than $150,000, authorities said.

Martha R. Thompson, 25, of Lexington Park is accused of telling the men about the credit union's layout and operations, including which employees would be there the day of the planned heist and how much money could be taken. She is charged with being an accessory before and after the incident, according to charging documents.

Capt. Rick Burris, commander of criminal investigations for the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office, said investigators "received additional information recently" that implicated Thompson and a man in the Aug. 21, 2004, heist. Burris declined to specify the nature of the information, but charging documents say it came from "two independent witnesses."

The man, identified as Derrick X. Green, 27, of Lexington Park, was charged May 19. He is accused of being the getaway driver. Police had arrested his uncle, Cornelius L. Chase, 48, of Mechanicsville, in 2004 and identified him as one of two men who robbed the credit union.

Chase's trial is scheduled to begin next week. Thompson and Green have upcoming court appearances and have been ordered held on $100,000 bond, court records show.

According to charging documents, Thompson told detectives that she provided information about credit union operations to Green and Chase and that Green gave her two cash payments to keep quiet. Green also admitted his role in the robbery, according to the documents, saying he used his money from the heist in part to pay child support.

How much money the men took, and how much Thompson and Green received, was unclear. Burris declined to comment on those aspects of the case, and charging documents say only that the robbers stole more than $150,000, dropping one brick of $10,000 as they fled from police through a cornfield.

The robbery, charging documents say, was a classic armed heist. Two masked men with handguns entered the credit union and forced employees to lie on the ground. They ordered the manager to open the vault and put several bricks of money in a bag. The men fled and met up with their getaway driver.

Burris said police were "anticipating additional arrests," noting that they had not charged a man who entered the credit union with Chase.

"We're looking into anyone that had knowledge of the robbery before it occurred," he said.