Alert citizens assist in quick apprehension of bank robber

A man held up the Renasant Bank at Coulter Road and Highway 30 at around 2 p.m. Friday, but was in police custody only minutes later.

New Albany Police Chief Chris Robertson said the robber walked into the bank and handed a teller a note demanding money. The teller complied, and the man left the bank. Witnesses observed the man, watched him leave the bank, enter a car and drive away. They called 911, gave a description of the man and his vehicle, and said the vehicle had entered I-22 headed toward Memphis.

The New Albany police department responded quickly, and drove rapidly up the freeway until they spotted the described vehicle .  The vehicle exited I-22 at Myrtle and proceded along Highway 78, by which time both NAPD and Union County sheriff’s cars were in pursuit. Officers were able to stop the car after a short distance on Highway 178.

The stolen money is believed have been recovered from the car. The man was booked into the Union County jail.

Chief Robertson says the suspect is from Alabama, and it is believed that he may have been involved in other robberies in the region.

Robertson praised the alert citizens who kept track of the robber and called 911. He said a quick apprehension of the robber would not have been likely if the witnesses had not been sharp-eyed.

“When citizens cooperate good things happen,” said Robertson.

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