Sheriff: Hero thwarts bank robbery
By Staff
FRESH PRINTS J.G. Kufel, left, a criminal investigator with the Clarke County Sheriff's Department, shows Clarke County Sheriff Todd Kemp the fingerprints he retrieved from the front door of the BankPlus in Clarke County about an hour after a robbery at the bank. The gunmen fled bank with an undisclosed amount of money they took from a customer. Clarke County Sheriff's deputies are still searching for the gunmen. PHOTO BY PAULA MERRITT / THE MERIDIAN STAR
By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
July 26, 2003
A customer described only as a middle aged male from Enterprise is being credited with helping prevent the robbery of a BankPlus branch in Clarke County on Friday.
Clarke County Sheriff Todd Kemp, who declined to identify the customer, said another customer at the bank was robbed, however. Late Friday Kemp said one suspect had been apprehended, the getaway car impounded and two other suspects were being sought.
Kemp said the unidentified customer remained calm when the gunmen, described as black males dressed in dark coveralls and gray masks, entered the bank about 1:20 p.m., held a gun to him and threatened to shoot. The sheriff said a gunman demanded that the bank's teller open a bullet-proof door that separated the gunmen from the tellers.
The bank is located on County Road 513, a few feet away from Stonewall's town limits.
Kemp said the robbers, who were armed with a rifle, shotgun and handgun, released the customer and then took an undisclosed amount of money from another customer.
No one was injured and the gunmen fled the store in a bright red Ford Sport Trac truck.