Published: May 22, 2009 12:47 pm      

Alleged bank robber caught in Greenville

A bank robber allegedly tried to make a getaway through Floyd County, but had no idea officers with the Floyd County Sheriff’s Department were sitting and waiting for him.

Detectives heard over the police radio about 12:08 p.m. Thursday that there had been an armed robbery at the National City Bank in Campbellsburg.

“We thought that with a bank robbery that far out in the country, he was probably coming from Louisville or around this area,” Detective Capt. Jeff Topping said.

Witnesses gave police officers a partial license plate and said the robber left in a silver Toyota.

Topping said he thought the suspect would go one of two routes, so he and Chief Ted Heavrin waited in a store parking lot along U.S. 150 in Greenville. It was not long before they saw the vehicle matching that description driving on U.S. 150 toward Interstate 64.

The alleged bank robber pulled over and surrendered peacefully. He only wanted to know how they caught him, Topping said.

When police ran the license plate, it came up as registered to a woman in New Albany. Officers asked the suspect why the license was not registered to him, and he responded that he stole it the previous night, Topping said.

Topping said the gun used in the robbery and the stolen money were recovered. He also reportedly had a wig, a hat and a police radio in the vehicle. He said the suspect confessed to the robbery.

Topping said to contact the Washington County Sheriff’s Department for the name of the suspect, but the sheriff and officers working the case did not respond to messages left at the department.