By By MARCIA STEFFENS / Niles Daily News
CASSOPOLIS -- Two tellers feared for their lives when John David Love, 41, of Goshen, Ind., came into the G.W. Jones Bank in Jones on Aug. 16, 2002 and was waving around a gun, giving orders and threatening them, Judge Michael E. Dodge in Cass County Circuit Court Friday.
Even after giving him the money he requested, they didn't know if they would be shot when he shut them into the vault. Both she and the other teller, Patricia Sullivan, are still bothered, said Marilyn Joyce Pipher of Marcellus, who used to be a teller, but now works in bookkeeping.
The Jones bank branch has closed.
While the robbery was in progress, a customer was waved away from coming into the bank, while another was served at the drive-through.
Love, who said he has five children between the ages of two and five, added that he knew he had "other choices." Now he is concerned that the children will be grown when he gets out of prison.
The woman who drove the getaway car, Heather Price, told him about the bank where her grandmother had worked.
The two were found and arrested after tips led the police to the Budget Inn in Elkhart, Ind., on Aug. 22. Cameras had shown Love two weeks earlier at a robbery at the Dollar General in Elkhart, Ind.
For his part in the bank robbery, Love was sentenced by Dodge to the Michigan Department of Corrections to 12 years to 30 years, with credit for 267 days. He is to pay a $60 DNA fee, $60 to the Crime Victims' Fund and restitution of $14,030.
Love was also sentenced Friday for his escape attempt from the Cass County Jail on Sept. 24, 2002. Cass County Sheriff's Officer Linda Bush was knocked down during the attempt. Love is a "dangerous individual and we need to protect society," said Dodge. For the escape attempt, Love was sentenced to a consecutive sentence of three years to 15 years. He is to pay $60 to the Crime Victims' Fund and restitution of $2,190.
In other sentencings:
Miller was sentenced to 365 days in the Cass County jail for OUIL third, with 54 days credit and with no tether or work release for the first six months, Dodge added. He is on probation for three years and is to pay a $60 DNA fee, $60 to the Crime Victims' Fund, $350 court costs, a $500 fine, and a $150 lab fee.