March 15, 1991|By Roger Twigg
Two other suspects in that holdup already were in custody: Eric C. Wheeler, 29, of the 1100 block of North Mount Street, West Baltimore, who allegedly took several employees hostage before being captured at the scene; and Tony Maurice Bedford, 19, also known as Sadiyq Abdullah Muhammed, of the 5400 block of Bucknell Road, Northeast Baltimore, arrested Saturday at the Newport News-Williamsburg Airport in Virginia while trying to purchase a one-way ticket to Philadelphia.
Mr. Wheeler has been charged with three other robberies, and Mr. Bedford with 14 more.
Police said the van in the Wilmington chase had been rented in Newport News by Mr. Boston, using the same address as Mr. Bedford.
Two other suspects in the 10 a.m. holdup of the Wilmington Trust Bank were identified as Edward Spencer Punett, 29, of Philadelphia, who was killed in the gunbattle; and William Francis, 30, of Hampton, Va., who was wounded and listed in fair condition at Christiana Hospital.
Patrolman Thomas Monaghan, who was shot in the knee, was hospitalized in fair condition, authorities said. Detectives in Wilmington said they believe that a fourth participant in the holdup escaped.
Automatic and semiautomatic handguns and sawed-off rifles and shotguns -- the types of weapons commonly used in the shotgun holdups -- were seized from the suspects and the van.
Wilmington police said they have not had a gang-robbery problem.
