Trial set for ‘AK-47 bandit’ suspect

LINCOLN, Neb. – A federal trial has been scheduled in Nebraska for a man suspected of being the “AK-47 bandit,” who investigators believe robbed banks in five states.

Court records show Richard Gathercole pleaded not guilty last week to robbery and other charges in U.S. District Court. Gathercole is accused of stealing more than $90,000 in August 2014 from a bank in Nebraska City, which sits about 50 miles south of Omaha. His trial is set to begin Oct. 23 in Lincoln.

FBI officials believe the bandit carried an AK-47 while robbing banks in California, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska and Washington.

Gathercole, of Montana, was arrested near Lexington, Nebraska, after a sheriff’s deputy spotted a pickup truck that Kansas authorities had reported stolen by a man who fired at a state trooper.