The bank teller handed the robber an unspecified amount of money, but surveillance cameras were able to capture footage of his crime. On August 3 (Wednesday), Charleston police escorted Kerry Stephen Johnson (picture), age 52, to Kanawha County Magistrate Court.
Johnson is accused of robbing on Tuesday afternoon the City National Bank's branch on Bridge Road. He denied it and told police he was at the Mardi Gras Casino in Nitro playing blackjack when the robbery happened, but the cops say he briefly left the blackjack tables to rob the bank.
On August 2 (Tuesday), Johnson said he went to the Mardi Gras Casino in Nitro, West Virginia, around 10am until around 4:30pm, so he was there for over 6 hours.
However, police say that at around 3pm, he put down a $25 chip to hold his spot on the blackjack table, and left the casino. He then went to the City National Bank located in the South Hills neighborhood of Charleston, handed the unsuspecting tellers a note saying he had a weapon and a bomb, and had successfully robbed the bank. After that, he returned to the casino, resumed his spot at the blackjack table, and continued gambling.
Moments after the Tuesday afternoon bank robbery incident, police received an anonymous tip that a male matching the description of the robber (as given by the bank tellers) resided on Churchill Drive in South Hills. When they went to the house they spotted a green Mazda Miata, the exact same car that the robber fled in, as stated in the complaint. Johnson was inside the house, asleep.
When the cops searched the house, they found a blue-gold West Virginia University hat and a white towel, similar items that the robber wore during the robbery. They also found a yellow legal pad, exactly the same type of paper used during the robbery (as mentioned above, he handed a note to the tellers that he had a bomb and a weapon).
Last but not least, the police found "a large sum of US currency" stuffed between the couch cushions.
Police stated that the cash taken during the bank robbery was later spotted at the blackjack table where Johnson had been playing on.
Walking toward the court, Johnson said he had no recollection of the events that the cops described in a criminal complaint and therefore he was not guilty.
On the afternoon of August 3, Johnson was arraigned and charged with one count of felony bank robbery. If convicted, he faces 10 to 20 years in prison and is being held pending a $50,000 cash bond.
Johnson, whilst being arraigned, said that he earns around $10,000 a month, but currently has no money.
Source: http://wjla.com/news/offbeat/police-bank-robbery-suspect-leaves-blackjack-table-robs-bank-keeps-gambling-08-03-2016
