POSTED: 11:55 am EST January 10, 2006
A bank robber who was fatally shot by a sheriff sniper to end a 10-hour police standoff threatened to kill himself and his last hostage in his final moments, the Osceola County sheriff said Wednesday.
The male suspect, identified Wednesday as 50-year-old Gaetano Alessandrello, and a woman investigators identified as Amanda Lynn Moeller, 26, attempted to rob the Mercantile Bank, located on a busy tourist highway, a mile west of Walt Disney World on Tuesday. The first three hostages were released as the standoff progressed, but the fourth wasn't freed until Alessandrello was shot. None of the hostages was injured.
Moeller's initial court appearance Wednesday was postponed after questions arose about her identity. She was being held at the Osceola County Jail without bond.
Alessandrello cooperated with authorities during negotiations to release the first three hostages. "After that, his whole demeanor changed. He started saying, 'I'm not going to let this hostage go. This is my only leverage,"' Sheriff Bob Hansell said.
Alessandrello became noticeably agitated and angry at times and did not make good on his promise to let the final hostage go, even when authorities complied with his demands, he said.
The standoff culminated when the two robbers and the hostage escaped with an undisclosed amount of money out the front of the bank, Hansell said. Authorities used explosives to blast through the rear door, to take control of the bank and prevent the robbers from returning, Hansell said.
The robbers, using the hostage as a shield, escaped in a bank employee's car and a brief car chase ensued, until deputies flattened their tires.
"That's when he threatened, 'Everybody's going to go with me,"' Hansell said. "We knew right then that he was not going to go mobile again because that just increases the risk to the hostage."
Alessandrello, of Celebration, was pronounced dead at the scene. Deputies arrested Moeller and recovered the money.
The hostages had been holed up in the bank since 9:30 Tuesday morning. The first was released when the robbers panicked after deputies arrived so quickly after the robbery, said sheriff's spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain.
The second was freed in exchange for cigarettes and the third after deputies agreed to back their vehicles a few feet farther away from the bank, Lizasuain said. Deputies used cell phones to negotiate with the suspects, who were wearing masks, wigs and coats.
Authorities have not released the names of the hostages, but said all four are in shaken, but in good condition.
The same bank was robbed Nov. 16 by a male and female duo and investigators are still looking for two suspects, Lizasuain said. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the two robberies are connected.
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Mercantile Bank was closed for business Wednesday as employees cleaned up after the standoff. Workers also replaced the bank's rear door, which was destroyed when authorities blasted through it.
Map of Florida highlighting Osceola County

Two suspected robbers west of Kissimmee, Florida released one hostage after negotiating with sheriffs' deputies. Other hostages remain inside, authorities say. Police later shot and killed one bank robber and arrested a second on after a 10 hour stand-off with police. "A sniper shot the male suspect while the female was in custody", said Osceola County Sheriff Bob Hansell. Four hostages were not injured.

The suspects had escaped the Mercantile Bank, a mile west of Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports, with one hostage after authorities blasted through the rear door using an explosive device. But police soon cornered them in their getaway car, authorities said. The male suspect then "used the hostage again as a shield to get into another vehicle," Hansell said. "He tried to leave again and at that point he was taken down by one of our snipers."

Deputies had been using cell phones to negotiate with the suspects, who were wearing masks, wigs and coats.

Around 7:15 p.m. EST, police blasted through the bank's rear door. The suspects escaped with a female hostage and drove away in a bank employee's car, but they traveled less than a mile before street barricades stopped them. Shots were fired at deputies but nobody was hurt, police said. 

The suspects had been holed up in the bank since Tuesday morning. The first hostage was released when the robbers panicked when deputies arrived so quickly after the robbery, said sheriff's spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain. The second was freed in exchange for cigarettes and the third after deputies agreed to back their vehicles a few feet farther away from the bank, Lizasuain said.

Police did not release the names the hostages, but the suspects were identified Wednesday as a 50-year-old male, Gaetano Alessandrello, and a 26-year old woman, Amanda Lynn Moeller. It was not immediately clear whether the suspects ever got any money. Tourists near the bank, in hotels, were confined to them for hours as police asked them "to stay indoors".
The hostages said they were treated well and were not threatened with violence, Hansell said.

The same bank was robbed just 2 months ago on November 16, 2005. It is unclear if the two robberies are connected or not.