Bank robbery suspect has long criminal past

Xavier Hosea Shaw, 47, of 2001 Pleasant Union Church Road in Raleigh, was arrested Monday on one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the robbery at the BB&T at 8521 Brier Creek Parkway.

District Judge Jane Gray postponed his first court appearance on the charges Tuesday afternoon after he yelled profanities and made obscene gestures in the courtroom.

Earlier Tuesday, he appeared before another judge on an outstanding arrest warrant from 2005 in which he was charged with assault on a female. A judge ordered him held on a $10,000 bond in that case.

Shaw also went to prison in February 1992 after being convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon, misdemeanor breaking and entering, felony breaking and entering and larceny. He was sentenced to 38 years in prison and was released on parole in July 2002 after 10 years.

He was arrested again in December 2002 on a charge of damage to property and resisting arrest.

At least one past victim of Shaw expressed disbelief Tuesday that he was out of prison.

"You look at it and go, 'God, what is he doing out?'" Tom Watkins said. "Then, you look at the criminal justice system and how it's being run, and you have to say to yourself, 'Well, that's just par for the course.'"

Becky Holt, the assistant district attorney who handled a 2007 case involving Shaw, said the state offered him a plea deal on 10 charges because he was masked, making it difficult to tie him to the crimes.

In light of the new charges, she said, the state's goal is to keep him in prison.

"He is someone we will prosecute as a violent habitual felon," Holt said. "The punishment for that in North Carolina is life without the possibility of parole."