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By Carey Phillips
Local law enforcement officers are working with Georgia authorities
on a possible connection between a December bank robbery here
and a November 2002 heist in Dillard, Ga.
"There certainly are enough similarities that we want to
look into the two," Sylva Police Chief Jeff Jamison said
Tuesday. "We will be meeting with Rabun County officers later
this week."
A man claiming to have a bomb robbed Central Carolina Bank in
downtown Sylva on Dec. 22. The same method was used in the 2002
robbery at Regions Bank in Dillard, according to Jamison.
In each case, the man entered the bank and asked to see the manager.
After going into the manager's office, he partially showed an
object he said was a bomb.
Furthermore, the robber told each manager he knew where they lived
and gave their home address, according to Jamison. The manager
in Dillard no longer lived at the address quoted by the robber.
One difference was the robber in Georgia demanded and took the
bank's security tape forcing authorities to rely on witness descriptions
to form a composite sketch.
Bank security cameras obtained pictures of the man who robbed
the Sylva bank.
Another difference is the time frame. The robber entered the Sylva
bank shortly before noon while the Georgia robbery occurred just
before the bank's 5 p.m. closing time.
The general descriptions of the robbers also fit, Jamison said.
Witness accounts described the man who robbed Central Carolina
Bank as a white male about 45-50 year old, 6 feet tall and weighing
around 200 pounds. He was also said to have a thick black mustache
with gray stubble and was wearing small-rimmed glasses.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sylva Police Department
at 586-2916.
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