Charlotte K. Berger

cberger@thecherawchronicle.com

SOCIETY HILL Authorities have apprehend two men who robbed Carolina Bank at gunpoint Wednesday morning.

Jarvis Nathan McNeal, 22, of 126 Toledo Scales Road in Florence, and Raymond Rashad Cooper of 2992 White Oak Road, Lake City, have been charged with armed robbery.

Society Hill Chief of Police Jessie Rogers said he received an alert around 9:35 a.m. Wednesday that the bank was being robbed.

"One of the employees pushed the hold up button and this alerted the police department that the bank was in trouble," said Rogers. According to Rogers, the suspects entered the bank with a small handgun and demanded the employees to "get down." The two suspects then fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash. According to Rogers, the two left the bank and went into a wooded area behind a house near the bank on U.S 52.

Authorities soon began a search of the area. A a pale green 2005 Ford Taurus with its flashers on was spotted near Burlington Drive, a short distance from the bank.

"There was no one in the vehicle," said Rogers.

After about fifteen minutes, Rogers spotted a man fitting the description of one of the two suspects near parked car. Rogers ordered him to lie on the ground and he was taken into custody. A photo of the suspect was later identified by bank employees.

An hour later, an Emergency 911 stated that another man matching the description of the second suspect was seen running through a yard off O'Neal Street by a Darlington County deputy. The suspect was soon apprehended and taken into custody.

Officers confiscated the weapon used in the robbery, according to Rogers. Most of the money was also recovered after being found a bag among some brush in the woods.

"It was a team effort. If it had not been a cooperative effort, I don't think it would have ended the way it did," said Rogers.

According to Rogers, the Darlington County Sheriff's Department, the State Law Enforcement Division, the FBI, the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Department, and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources worked together on the case.

The robbery was the second one in a little over a year for Carolina Bank in Society Hill