Man said he hid from suspect while being held hostage at Jacksonville bank

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax obtained the mugshot of the man accused of taking hostages inside a Jacksonville bank.

Nicholas Humphrey was arrested at the end of a two-hour standoff Thursday.

Sky Action News Jax flew over the scene as the hostages were released from the Community First Credit Union on Edgewood Avenue.

One of the hostages said Humphrey came in with a dog. They were able to run from the bank after the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office SWAT Team busted down the door.

The police report shows Humphrey is charged with 13 counts of kidnapping, one count of armed robbery and one count of vehicle theft.

“I knew that somebody was going to get hurt,” said Frank Brown.

Brown was one of 13 people inside the bank when it was robbed at gunpoint.

“I’m sitting there talking to the associate and by that time, I heard somebody say, you can’t bring that dog in here. I looked around and saw a guy with a pit bull. I turned around to the associate and said, 'I didn’t know they allowed pit bulls as service dogs,' that’s when he shot in the air, boom!” said Brown.

Brown said at that very moment, a bank employee and himself hid while the suspect forced everyone else into a separate area of the bank.

“She got under the desk, I went around and laid in the front, because I was too big to get under the desk with her. He said 'bring up all the cellphones,' and he said 'everybody get over here.' He said 'if I find anybody, hiding, I’m going to shoot you,'” said Brown.

Brown said the suspect didn’t see him or the employee hiding.

“The dog was this far from my face, and I said 'shh!' The dog looked at me, turned around and went the other way,” said Brown.

Brown said during the two hours, the suspect held them hostage inside the bank. He pointed the gun at other people multiple times. Brown said the suspect was also paying attention to the news and what was going on outside.

“I saw him, when he had the gun pointed at one of the guys, and brought him to the door. He said 'tell them to get back,' and the guy said 'get back,'" Brown said.

“I said 'we’re going to get out of this.' I didn’t think the rest of them were going to get out, but I knew we were going to get out,” said Brown.

Those were the final words Brown said to an employee, minutes before they attempted an escape.

“When I told her to run, she got up, by me laying there, my leg fell asleep, I wanted to go forward, but I went sideways and knocked about three rows of chairs down, they went 'boom, boom, boom,' that was the loud noise everybody heard. He thought the police were coming in, he ran out of the room, where everybody was. I don’t know how I did it, I must have ran to the door on my knees, and next thing I know, I rolled out, the door, and the police said run, I couldn’t run so I rolled again,” said Brown.

Cox Media Group