UPDATE: Thursday @ 2:36am
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (WSAZ) -- The Missouri State Highway Patrol announced Thursday that it has arrested suspected serial bank robber Joseph Young.
According to a news release from the MSHP, Young was pulled over at about 8:00 a.m. on Interstate 44 after he was seen driving slowly in a red Dodge Neon with a registration violation.
The MSHP says a computer check of the of his plate revealed multiple felony violations on Young, and he was arrested without any trouble.
During a news conference Thursday afternoon, Charleston Police announced that Young had $16,000 in cash with him--and he said he had been gambling.
His car was going so slowly because it was having transmission problems.
UPDATE: Thursday @ 11:22am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Charleston Police are reporting that Joseph Young, reported to be the "plaid shirt robber," was arrested Thursday morning in Missouri.
Television station KSPR is reporting that Young was picked up during a traffic stop on I-44. They say he was driving too slowly.
Click here for more from KSPR.com.
Charleston Police are holding a 2:30 p.m. news conference Thursday. Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.
UPDATE: Thursday @ 10:23pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The search is on for Joseph Young and slowly we are learning more about the serial bank robbery suspect.
His family says he worked on a dairy farm and they are stunned that the FBI is trying to track him down because they thought he'd learned his lesson after a previous conviction. He’s also been connected to another robbery in Virginia -- making him wanted in six states.
It was one observant person from Charleston who helped crack this case. The search for Young actually started Wednesday night when police made contact with him in his driveway and he took off. He ditched his truck in a wooded area and jumped into some kind of body of water.
Police said Young got away with $50,000 in the bank robberies he was connected to in Charleston.
UPDATE: Thursday @ 12:02pm
Charleston Police just wrapped up a news conference where we learned the suspect, Joseph Young, has been convicted of bank robbery before. He served 5 years in prison on that charge.
He's also been recently linked to another bank robbery in Lexington City, Virginia, and detectives say the number of robberies will continue to grow now that they have his name. In fact, they tell us they could reach as many as 40 to 50 by the end of the investigation.
Police say Young has been link to at least three bank robberies in the Kanawha Valley.
The latest happened Tuesday morning at the Summit Community Bank just off Corridor G. In April, police say Young robbed a bank in St. Albans. In June, he hit another bank in Kanawha City.
However, police tell us Young has not been charged in the St. Albans robbery yet.
Detectives say in all Young got away with more than $50,000 just in these three robberies.
UPDATE Thursday @ 10:31am
Charleston Detectives say the FBI and the Missouri State Police were involved in a pursuit with Young Wednesday night and early Thursday morning in Rogersville. He was driving the black truck that he was spotted in the day he allegedly robbed the Summit Community Bank.
Detectives say Young eventually ditched the truck near a wooded area and took off. The manhunt continues at this hour.
According to the criminal complaint, witnesses spotted the suspect's truck on the west side just a few hours before the robbery at the Summit Community Bank.
A witness saw the truck around 6:15am Thursday near Kelley's Men Shop on Pennsylvania Avenue. The witness also told police he saw the truck stop in front of the First Bank of Charleston. He also used that bank's ATM.
The complaint also states when Young robbed the bank he handed a teller a note stating, "Robbery, Give Me All Your Money, Look Straight Ahead, I do have a weapon and will use it."
Then, he started giving verbal commands, "This is a robbery, give me all your money, I want big bills." He told another teller "You too, give me all your money." The complaint says Young put the money in his pockets and left the bank.
Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the very latest information.
THURSDAY UPDATE
Charleston Police have released the name of the man they've dubbed the "Plaid Shirt Robber."
Investigators say Joseph Paul Young is from Rogersville, Missouri. A tip helped police make the identification.
Charleston Police will hold a news conference at 11:30am Thursday to release more information.
Detectives say the number of bank robberies he's committed is climbing.
Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for more information.
UPDATE @ 8:35pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Charleston Police have released new surveillance pictures of the serial bank robbery suspect they say went inside the nearby Wal-Mart prior to Tuesday morning's holdup.
Police tell WSAZ.com the suspect entered the store about an hour and a half before the robbery, but did not buy anything. Instead, he went into the bathroom, then left. As you can see in the pictures below, he is not wearing his trademark plaid shirt or coat.
Also, the pictures show another view of the suspect's pickup truck. It's believed to be a black 2008 Chevy Silverado. The name "Chevy" is written in gold lettering on the back of the truck.
Here's a look at the newest surveillance images. Click to enlarge.
UPDATE@6 p.m.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- He's called the plaid shirt robber, but what else do we know about the man accused of at least 20 bank robberies across the country during the last several months, including one yesterday in our area?
"This person is going to slip up," said FBI Agent Supervisor Jay Bartholomew. "They always do."
On Tuesday, however, there was no slip up -- just a clean getaway from the suspect’s 20th bank robbery nationwide and his third in the Kanawha Valley.
"The fact that he is so blatant, that he is not wearing a mask would suggest to me he is from outside the area and feels confident that no one will be able to ID him in this area," said Dr. Terry Fenger, a forensic scientist at Marshall University.
Fenger said the plaid shirt robber's track record could mean he's a traveler by trade, possibly a truck driver. On Tuesday, a black truck served as the robber's getaway vehicle.
Bartholomew said authorities capture about 75 percent of serial robbers nationally and referred to their crimes as "a terrible way to make a living."
But despite attention in five states, the suspect is not stopping. Fenger said not seeing or hearing about a gun during these robberies is positive, which may come as small consolation to bank tellers the robber has frightened.
UPDATE @ 5:55pm
Click on the map image to see the locations police are connecting to the same suspect.
UPDATE @ 4:21pm
Investigators have released surveillance pictures from most of the robberies believed to be connected to the same suspect. Click on the PDF file above to follow the case.
UPDATE @ 2:26pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Charleston Police and the FBI say the suspect they're looking for in connection with at least twenty robberies is known as the 'plaid shirt robber.'
The FBI says they have twenty cases they're linking to the same suspect: 8 are in Kentucky, 3 are in South Dakota, 4 in Minnesota, 2 are in Ohio, and 3 are in West Virginia.
Here is the listing of connected robberies, according to the FBI:
1) Louisville, KY [06/01/07]
2) Franklin, KY [06/04/07]
3) Louisville, KY [06/11/07]
4) Elizabethtown, KY [06/12/07]
5) Frankfort, KY [06/20/07]
6) Louisville, KY [06/22/07]
7) Crescent S., KY [07/10/07]
8) Sioux Falls, SD [08/13/07]
9) Mitchell, SD [08/14/07]
10) Maplewood, MN [09/18/07]
11) Fridley, MN [09/25/07]
12) Sioux Falls, SD [09/26/07]
13) Columbus, OH [11/27/07]
14) Lexington, KY [12/31/07]
15) Bloomington, MN [01/26/08]
16) Whitehall, OH [03/21/08]
17) Luverne, MN [04/16/08]
18) St. Albans, WV [04/07/08]
19) Charleston, WV [06/27/08]
20) Charleston, WV [08/19/08]
Investigators hope to release more information about the suspect vehicle this afternoon.
UPDATE @ 11:33am
Sergeant S.A. Cooper with the Charleston Police Department says investigators believe this bank robbery suspect is tied to similar robberies from West Virginia to South Dakota, including but not limited to Minnesota, Ohio, and Kentucky.
Cooper says the suspect's M.O. is to bounce from state to state--and they do not believe he will stop until he's caught.
Police are asking for the public's help to identify the suspect.
"If we have his name, we'll have him," said Cooper.
If you have any information, call the Charleston Police at (304) 348-6480.
UPDATE @ 10:47am
Police have released a surveillance picture of the man they believe robbed the Summit Community Bank Tuesday morning. This picture is from a bank robbery in Lexington, Kentucky.
Police say this man is behind nearly 20 bank robberies across the country. Investigators also believe this is the same man who robbed the City National Bank in St. Albans and the City National Bank in Kanawha City earlier this year. The crime spree started back in June of 2007.
UPDATE @ 9:50am
Police say the truck pulled over leaving Southridge was not the suspect vehicle. They are continuing to look for the suspect.
UPDATE @ 9:46am
Police have stopped a pickup truck matching the description of the suspect vehicle near an exit to the Southridge Shopping Center (see the pictures above & below). Officers have not determined whether this is the suspect yet.
ORIGINAL STORY @ 9:33am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Metro 911 is reporting that the Summit Community Bank at the Southridge Shopping Center was just robbed.
It happened at about 9:25am.
Dispatchers say the suspect is a man driving a black pickup truck. Police are searching for him right now.
WSAZ has a crew on the way to the scene. Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for more information.
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