MOUNT VERNON, Wash. – An Interstate 5 bridge over a river collapsed north of Seattle Thursday evening, dumping two vehicles into the water and sparking a rescue effort by boats and divers as three injured people were pulledCHICAGO – Escape charges have been dropped against a convicted bank robber who climbed out of a high-rise jail in downtown Chicago.
Federal prosecutors asked a judge Thursday to dismiss the charges against 37-year-old Joseph “Jose” Banks. The defense offered no objection.
Prosecutors said Banks already faces up to 80 years in prison when he is sentenced in March on a bank robbery conviction. Prosecutors said they plan to use the escape to argue for a stiffer sentence.
Banks escaped from the lockup Dec. 18 along with fellow inmate Kenneth Conley, who remains at large.
FBI officials said Banks and Conley broke a large hole into the bottom of a window at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. They used a rope made from bed sheets to climb about 20 stories to the ground.
