Man who robbed Moline bank indicted

A federal grand jury has returned indictments against a man who is a former Indiana police officer and attorney who allegedly robbed a Moline bank at gunpoint, as well as numerous other banks across the country.

Clifton Bruce Davidson Jr., 41, is charged with one count of armed bank robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during a bank robbery and two other bank robbery counts. It alleges that on June 16 Davidson robbed the National City Bank at 4575 16th St., Moline, of $17,933.

When the bank teller asked Davidson whether the robbery was a joke, Davidson allegedly pulled out a silver handgun and showed it to the teller. A bank customer followed Davidson out of the bank and got a license plate number off of the vehicle he was using, which he owned.

The indictment also alleges that Davidson robbed the First Midwest Bank in Danville, Ill., of $7,249 on June 15, 2004; and that he robbed the Commerce Bank in Normal, Ill., of $3,312 on Jan. 13, 2005.

Davidson was arrested Jan. 31 in Phoenix, Ariz. At the time, he also was wanted for robbing seven other banks in Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Maryland between March 2004 and April 2005.

If convicted of robbing the Moline bank, Davidson faces a maximum prison term of 25 years. If convicted of brandishing a firearm during the Moline robbery, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years prison, and could receive a sentence of life in prison. If convicted of the Danville and Normal robberies, he faces being sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison per robbery conviction, or 40 years.

Davidson had worked as a police officer in Elkhart, Ind., where he became embroiled in a controversy in which he filed a defamation lawsuit against the mayor in the mid-1990s. He later worked as an attorney in Marion County, Ind.

The Indiana Supreme Court revoked Davidson’s law license in the fall of 2004 after finding him guilty of six counts of misconduct. He was accused of taking clients’ money for lawsuits that never were filed or on which he did little work.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.