Cheraw Police arrested its first armed robbery suspect of the year Sunday night.

Travis Raynard Ledbetter, 27, was charged with robbing at gunpoint First American Cash Advance in the Wal-Mart Shopping Center Friday morning.

According to police reports, Ledbetter had gone into the business earlier in reference to a loan application and then returned and robbed it.

Wearing a hat and sunglasses, the suspect showed a gun and ask an employee to open the cash drawers.

He escaped in a white Jeep Cherokee, and was chased on foot by two employees.

It was obvious the suspect wasn't from this area, said Lt. Keith Thomas, detective with the Cheraw Police Department.

Witnesses saw the Jeep leave out of the Wal-Mart parking lot, go straight through the stoplight and into the Burchwood subdivision, a dead end road. The driver backed up onto S.C. 9 and turned right onto Windsor.

The police department issued an all points bulletin throughout the state, Thomas said.

The Chesterfield County Sheriff's Department allowed use of its helicopter to search for the Jeep within 10 minutes of being alerted. The Union County, N.C., Sheriff's Department used its high-tech equipment to enhance the video tape retrieved from the store. And SLED's Crime Scene Unit conducted tire wear impressions left by the vehicle at the scene, which was compared to the Jeep's tires once the suspect was captured.

“An officer spotted the vehicle Sunday night. He turned around to do a traffic stop and it attempted to flee on Tech Road,” Thomas said.

The Jeep ended up being stolen from Charlotte, he said.

Ledbetter was charged with armed robbery and possession of a stolen vehicle.

He remains in jail without bond until a bond hearing can be set.

Thomas said Ledbetter is from Bennettsville, but now lives on Baskester Cauldwell Drive in Charlotte.