The story of how the Greene County sheriff and deputies caught the thief who is charged with robbing Peoples Bank in Scranton resembles daytime television drama more than crime drama. The mother of one of the suspect’s former girlfriends was the one who first provided a name to go with the man shown in surveillance video.
Photos of the suspect, taken from the surveillance video, were posted by local news media and on social media soon after the Feb. 25 robbery. According to the affidavit in the court case against Zachary Wailes, 26, of Fort Dodge, an anonymous female called the sheriff’s office yet that day and said the man in the photo resembled Wailes. She said her daughter is a former girlfriend of Wailes. The caller also said Wailes had been involved in several armed robberies in the area.
The Boone County sheriff’s office received a tip the next day from another person identifying the man pictured as Wailes.
Greene County sheriff Jack Williams obtained video footage of a robbery at the Casey’s General Store in Lohrville in December 2019. The suspect in the video was identified by local and federal authorities as Zachary Wailes. Williams observed Wailes appeared to be the same height and weight as the Scranton suspect. His shoe size, sun glasses and money bag also looked identical to the Scranton video. He had the same gait and even held the money bag the same way as the Scranton suspect.
The investigation became even easier after a Carroll police officer arrested Courtney Loew, 31, for operating while intoxicated on Feb. 26. While she was in custody in the Carroll County jail she advised officers and Carroll county deputies she wanted to provide information about the Scranton robbery.
Sheriff Williams and deputy Heath Enns went to Carroll to speak with Loew.
Just three minutes prior to the alarm from the Scranton bank, the Greene County dispatcher had received a call of a two-vehicle accident on Highway 4 at 310th St, about 15 miles southeast of Scranton. The report was found to be false.
Loew told Williams and Enns she had made the false report. She said she was with a friend, Tyler Mattingly, traveling to Des Moines the previous day. Mattingly had received a phone call from Wailes, asking that one of them call in a fake accident on the south side of Greene County. According to the affidavit, Loew offered to make the call, “but did not think anything of it.”
Loew said Mattingly told her Wailes had robbed a bank in Scranton. She overheard conversation between the two men about the get-away car.
Wailes was arrested Feb. 27 and charged with robbery- first degree and theft- first degree. Tyler Mattingly, 26, of Carroll was arrested March 3 on charges of robbery- first degree and theft- first degree aiding and abetting.
Wailes has a criminal history dating back to 2013. That year he was found guilty in Carroll County of theft- fourth degree and burglary- third degree, in Calhoun County of burglary- third degree, and in Greene County of burglary- third degree. In 2014 he was found guilty in Webster County of theft- third degree. In 2016 he was found guilty in Story County of theft- third degree.
In January 2021 Wailes was indicted for theft- first degree in Guthrie County.
