In their efforts to find the man who robbed Hometown Bank of Corbin on Falls Hwy. Tuesday morning, police questioned the registered owner of the getaway car.
"The lady told us that she had sold the car in the parking lot of the Williamsburg Walmart back in June or July," said Corbin Police Major Rob Jones. "We spoke with several of her family members who confirmed that."
Police brought the woman, whose name was not released, in for questioning Tuesday night several hours after the getaway car was found parked behind a home in the Faber community.
According to Whitley County Sheriff Colin Harrell, about 1:30 p.m. a white male came into the bank, pointed an automatic pistol at the teller and demanded money. The money was placed in a black bag the robber brought with him. He then ran out the door and jumped back into a white Chrysler Sebring and fled the scene, traveling south of U.S. 25W.
Harrell said the man had blond hair, possibly from a wig and was wearing sunglasses, a tan toboggan hat, a hood UK sweatshirt and sweat pants.
"He was in and out in just a couple of minutes," Harrell said.
Officers noted that video surveillance of the car showed it had no hubcaps.
Harrell noted that bank employees gave law enforcement a good starting point when several of the employees followed the robber outside, jumped into their vehicles and then followed the getaway car a short distance down Falls Hwy.
Corbin Police, Whitley County Sheriff’s deputies, Whitley County Constables and Kentucky State Police spent the afternoon combing the streets and roads in Whitley County in search of the car.
About 5 p.m., Harrell said the car was found by a house hunter as he looked at a house on Eatontown Road. When the man went to the back of the house, the car was parked there. Knowing that police were searching for it based on media broadcasts throughout the day, the man then contacted police "That is within two miles of the bank," Harrell said.
Based on the car and the description of the robber, Harrell said investigators believe he is responsible for four other bank robberies that occurred in Barbourville, McCreary County and Jellico, Tenn. within the last five months.
According to Kentucky State Police, on June 5 and unidentified white male wearing a wig and armed with a handgun walked into the Bank of McCreary County on South U.S. 27 in the Pine Knot Community. He was seen leaving the in a black four-door passenger car that was waiting at the rear of the bank.
On June 9, a white man, wearing khaki shorts, flip-flops, sunglasses and a reddish-brown wig entered the First Volunteer Bank in Jellico. He presented a note to the teller demanding money and fled the scene.
In early August, Commercial Bank in Barbourville was robbed and on Aug. 19 Forcht Bank in Barbourville was the target.
According to Barbourville Police Chief Mike Broughton the robber at Forcht Bank was wearing a blonde wig and brandished a black handgun as he demanded money from the tellers.
He fled the scene in a white as the passenger in a white car with what Broughton described as several distinct features.
"The thing that sticks out to me is that it had a Confederate decal above the keyhole on the trunk. It was also missing a hubcap on the front passenger side," Broughton said.
Harell said the Federal Bureau of Investigation has elected to lead the investigation into the robbery.
"Bank robbery constitutes a federal crime because of the FDIC," Harrell explained. Corbin Police, Kentucky State Police and Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputies are assisting in the investigation. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, 549-6006, Corbin Police, 528-1122 or Kentucky State Police, 878-6622. Tips may be made anonymously.
