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Suspect in custody 35 minutes after Qualla bank robbery
By Rose Hooper
Just 35 minutes after a bank robbery Monday, Feb. 2, at United Community Bank in the Qualla community, law enforcement officers apprehended the alleged suspect.
Charles Samuel Holcomb, 39, of Duncan, S.C., was taken into custody at 3:15 p.m. after wrecking his red Pontiac Grand Am on Sunset Farms Road.
Holcomb
"As soon as the bank's panic alarm was activated at 2:40 p.m., our officers responded," said Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe.
Sheriff's deputies, along with officers from the Cherokee Police Department and the N.C. Highway Patrol, set up a perimeter around the crime scene.
"We located an individual matching the description of the bank robber," said Ashe.
Holcomb was traveling at a high rate of speed while being pursued by law enforcement personnel, according to Ashe, who said the suspect wrecked his vehicle in a ditch off Sunset Farms Road.
The sheriff said Holcomb "was attempting to evade detection by leaving the scene at the car wreck."
Officers recovered the exact amount of cash taken from the bank, along with a note that had been presented to the teller, Ashe said.
Holcomb was arrested and interviewed by investigators from the sheriff's office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"Holcomb was charged with bank robbery and taken into federal custody in Asheville late Monday," Ashe said.
The investigation into whether there was a weapon is ongoing, according to Ashe.
Note presented to United Community Bank teller:
Keep your hands on the counter; Stay calm
Give me all the bills you can reach with one hand
Do it quickly and calmly
Please don't make me hurt anyone
Stay quiet until I am out the door.
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