Armored Car Driver Arrested in Heist

An armored car driver suspected of stealing $17 million from his company’s vault was in custody Monday after being captured in Mexico, bringing a five-month manhunt to an end.

David Scott Ghantt, 28, was arrested Sunday at Playa de Carmen, Mexico, near the island resort of Cozumel, FBI spokesman William Perry said.

He was returned to Charlotte, where he is charged with stealing a van stuffed with cash from the vault at Loomis, Fargo & Co. in Charlotte. The company reported the theft Oct. 5.

The van was found with $3 million in it, but the rest of the money is still missing.

Six people accused of plotting the heist and helping Ghantt flee were arrested Monday in North Carolina.

They were identified as Steve and Michelle Chambers; Kelly Jane Campbell; Michael L. McKinney; Thomas Nathan Grant; and Eric Haley Payne.

Arrest affidavits alleged lavish spending by the six, including the Chambers couple who moved out of a trailer and paid cash for a $635,000 home shortly after the theft. Michelle Chambers also got breast implants and paid cash for a BMW sports car, the affidavit said.

Court documents said an informant who was not identified tipped off federal agents about the couple’s suspicious spending habits.

Ghantt, a decorated Army veteran who served in the Persian Gulf War repairing helicopters, was charged in October with bank larceny, sparking the manhunt.