Police officers Thursday afternoon were searching a car they suspect was used in the robbery of Southern Bank on Thursday morning in Centre.
The silver Buick Park Avenue, which was registered in Calhoun County, was towed to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office for processing by evidence technicians Thursday afternoon. The car was found on David Street in down-town Centre about a half-mile from the bank.
Police said two men armed with a hand gun and an automatic weapon forced the bank manager into the vault at gunpoint and took an undisclosed amount of money in a duffle bag.
A red dye bomb in the bag exploded in the car and the bag was tossed from the vehicle a short distance from the bank on Main Street. Officers would not say if money was still in the bag when it was recovered.
Dog teams from the St. Clair County Department of Corrections attempted to track the suspects from David Street, but they were unable to pick up a trail, Centre Police Chief Val Courtney said.
Officers said the men may have had another vehicle waiting for them, but no other information on a second vehicle was available.
FBI spokesman Paul E. Daymon of the agency’s Birmingham office said the men are considered dangerous. He described the first suspect as a black man, about 6 foot 2, of average build, wearing a camouflage jacket with dark clothing and a face mask. He was armed with a silver handgun.
The second suspect was described as a black man, about 5 foot 8, of medium build, wearing a hooded jacket, dark clothing, and a mask and gloves. He was armed with an automatic weapon similar to a Tech 9.
Anyone with information about the robbery or the suspects is asked to contact the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office at (256) 927-3365, the Centre Police Department at (256) 927-3361 or the Gadsden Resident Agency of the FBI at (256) 547-0522
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