Bug-Eyed Bandits Caught

MARCH 1--Police tonight arrested two young women, a bank teller, and a fourth accomplice in connection with Tuesday's robbery of a Bank of America branch in Acworth, Georgia. The inside job was allegedly pulled off by Ashley Nicole Miller and Heather Lyn Johnston who are pictured in the below mug shots (Miller is at left). The women, both 19, were aided by Michael Chastang, 27, and Benny Herman Allen, a 22-year old bank employee. The men are pictured in these booking photos. While the incident first appeared to be a bank robbery, cops now consider it a felony theft and have charged the quartet accordingly. Miller and Johnston were captured by a bank surveillance camera as they stood smiling at a counter after handing Allen a note demanding money. The women (both of whom live in neighboring Fulton County) and their male cohorts were arrested less than two days after Cobb County Police Department officials circulated three surveillance photos showing the so-called Barbie Bandits wearing disguises consisting solely of the kind of oversized sunglasses favored by Hollywood starlets. The group was apprehended with the help of tips that poured into police from citizens who saw the bank camera photos. Johnston and Allen are each being held in lieu of $25,000 bond. Both Miller and Chastang have outstanding warrants in other Georgia counties and are jailed without bond. Last month, an arrest warrant was issued for Miller in Clayton County after she violated terms of her probation in connection with a 2006 drunk driving conviction. Click here to read the Cobb County Police Department press release announcing the arrests. (4 pages)