Gas station stop leads to arrest of Villisca bank robber

VILLISCA — An Anita man is in jail today largely because he stopped for gas and a soda at a convenience store minutes after robbing the Bank Iowa in Villisca last week.

Shawn Michael Antisdel, 31, is accused of entering the bank around 3 p.m. and while claiming to have a gun, demanded cash from a teller.
After obtaining an undisclosed amount of money, Antisdel left the bank and discarded a sweatshirt, ball cap, and dry wall mask he was wearing.
He then allegedly ran to a car he had parked on a gravel road, and drove away.
How-ever, he stopped for gas at the nearby Casey’s, and paid for it and a soda inside the convenience store.
Montgomery County Sheriff Joe Sampson said a photograph taken from surveillance cameras inside the store led to Antisdel’s arrest Thursday afternoon at a friend’s house in Atlantic.
“We received numerous tips that the guy in the picture looked like so and so,” Sampson said. “We spent a lot of time tracking down those leads.”
Antisdel was arrested without incident, and a portion of the money was recovered. No weapon was ever found or seen.
While Antisdel is currently in custody in the Montgomery County Jail on a $10,000 bond, he is also a suspect in two convenience store robberies in Adair County, and a robbery in Fontanelle.
He currently faces a second degree robbery charge in Montgomery County, with a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for July 26 or Aug. 5.
Prosecuting Attorney Bruce Swanson said while Antisdel is currently facing a state charge that carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years, he expects the case to be transferred to a federal, as is standard practice with bank robberies.