UA Hostage Suspect Speaks

Cedrick Lamar Collins, the man accused of robbing the Alabama Credit Union and taking 11 employees hostage with a BB gun told police he needed money to pay court costs in another criminal case.

According to Stephanie Taylor and the Tuscaloosa News, Rainey testified at a hearing Tuesday that Collins and the other officer in the car talked about basketball as they traveled to the jail. He said Collins also said he tried to rob the credit union to pay fines in another criminal case.

Collins, was charged in 2015 case involving rape and kidnapping of a woman from the University Mall parking lot. Collins will be prosecuted on nine counts of robbery and 11 counts of kidnapping. Collins also faces one federal bank robbery charge and two counts of hostage taking.

UA Police Officer Josh Rainey also testified that the credit union employees who were taken hostage said that Collins planned to swap clothing with one of the men held hostage and force them to surround him while acting as a shield.