Miss. man convicted in Greene Co. bank holdup
WAYNESBURG — A Greene County jury recently convicted a Mississippi man on charges stemming from allegations that he robbed the Community Bank in Rogersville in August.
Timothy Alan Bateman, 21, of Hernando was found guilty in Greene County Court on March 1 of one felony count each of robbery, robbery with bodily injury or threatening and terroristic threats, and one misdemeanor count each of theft and simple assault.
State police said the robbery occurred at 1:10 p.m. Aug. 24 when Bateman entered the bank and handed a bank teller a note instructing her to fill two envelopes with large bills. The note also stated that the teller had one minute to fill the envelopes, or else he would “kill everyone in the bank.” Bateman then began to count down from 60 as she retrieved the money, the complaint states.
Police were later notified of the robbery, and during their investigation they interviewed the teller, who reported that the robber had been in the bank two other times prior to the robbery inquiring about getting a loan. The robber spoke to other bank employees during the visits, police said.
The teller then told police that the robber approached her window and was shuffling through papers and, appearing nervous, asked if he could make a withdrawal; he then started to count down to 60 after she read the note and noticed the two envelopes, police said.
The teller said she filled the envelopes with $50 and $100 bills totaling $1,750 and handed him the money, and the robber threatened her again and told her to wait five minutes before calling police or else someone in the nearby woods would shoot everyone in the bank. He then apologized to her before leaving the bank, police said.
Police said the teller reported that she watched him in the parking lot as he removed his shoes before fleeing on foot into the Rogersville area.
Tellers provided a description of the suspect. Police also obtained surveillance video from the bank; after a local newspaper published a surveillance photo of Bateman, two of his relatives approached police days after the robbery occurred and identified Bateman as the suspect.
According to police, the relatives said Bateman moved to Greene County from Mississippi in 2010 and he had not been able to hold a job.
One of the relatives told police they saw Bateman on Aug. 28 after they had confronted Bateman about the photo they saw in the newspaper, and he had shaved his goatee, changed his hair color and stopped wearing glasses, police said.
Bateman was taken into custody on Aug. 29, and he confessed to the bank holdup, police said.
Following his trial, Bateman was remanded to the Greene County Prison on $250,000 straight cash bond. He will be sentenced at a later date following the preparation of a presentence report, according to court records.