Michigan Man Charged With Bank Robbery Second Man, Slain By Idaho Troopers, Not Not Identified

Authorities on Friday still were not disclosing the name of a bank robbery suspect who was shot to death by two Idaho State Police troopers after a 47-mile chase through north-central Idaho.

But Lewiston Police Lt. Tom Lee said a second man who was captured after the fatal exchange of gunfire on Thursday has been identified as Christopher Braden, 23, of Edwardsburg, Mich. He has been charged with armed robbery and the use of a firearm during a felony and was being held in lieu of $750,000 bond.

The other suspect in the armed robbery of First Federal Savings and Loan in Lewiston was killed on the main street of tiny Ferdinand after leading police on a high-speed chase through three counties.

Police said Braden tried to run from officers but was captured.

“One suspect fled on foot and the other suspect began firing shots at two Idaho State Police troopers,” State Police District Commander Capt. Mike Fosbury said. “The troopers returned fire, killing him at the scene.”

Braden was captured in a nearby storage shed, and some of the cash from the robbery was recovered with him.

Ferdinand Mayor Eugene Kuther said he saw 20 patrol cars on the street before the shootout.

“I told my wife to lay down,” Kuther said. “I knew what was coming. I heard the shots.”

The chase started after Braden, armed with a shotgun, and the other man, carrying a semiautomatic handgun, made off with an undisclosed amount of cash in the Thursday afternoon holdup, Lee said.

A patrol officer spotted a Cadillac matching the description of the robbers’ vehicle and gave chase, Lee said. The car pulled over at one point but then took off at high speed.

Lee said the Cadillac’s speed at times reportedly reached nearly 100 mph as it led the chase into Lewis County and then Idaho County. The suspects pulled off U.S. 95 into Ferdinand and, inexplicably, stopped.

“They chose the location and they dictated the circumstances,” Fosbury said. “They could have kept going multiple directions. They just chose to stop there.”

The names of the two Idaho State Police troopers involved in the shooting were not released, but Fosbury said they were put on administrative leave pending the conclusion of an investigation.