The Bank Robberies of Charlotte

FBI Charlotte has asked the public for help in solving these crimes

September 3, 2007

MECKLENBURG COUNTY NC NEWS -- As of October 1, 2007, FBI Charlotte has requested the public's assistance in identifying the individuals responsible for twenty-eight bank robberies in the Charlotte metropolitan and its surrounding counties this year. In 2006, FBI Charlotte, only requested the public's assistance in eight bank robberies for help in identifying unknown bank robbers in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus and Gaston counties. Your help is of paramount importance in solving these crimes, therefore, the FBI Charlotte continues to request your help in identifying and locating these unknown bank robbers.

The number of bank robberies in the Charlotte metropolitan has increased, but it should be noted that in 2006, North Carolina statewide had 200 bank robberies, 21 bank burglaries and four bank larcenies. Furthermore, the South ranks the highest region for bank robberies in the United States with 2205 bank robberies in 2006.

Less than half of the bank robberies committed in the United States in 2006 involved the use of a firearm. Thankfully, out of the 7,272 bank robberies, burglaries, and larcenies in the U.S. only 329 acts of violence were committed during the crime. During these crimes, 91 instances involved the discharge of firearms, 197 instances involved assaults, and 40 of the instances involved a hostage being taken. Also, one or more of these acts of violence may have occurred during the same crime. Overall, these acts of violence resulted in 129 injuries, 80 persons being taken hostage, and 13 deaths, ten of which were the perpetrators. There are 9,010 known perpetrators involved in the 7,272 bank robberies, burglaries, and larcenies. Law enforcement investigations have resulted in the identifying 39% of these criminals. In some cases, the use of full disguise made it impossible to determine the race or sex of these criminals; however, the following has been identified of the race and sex of these 9,010 criminals:

Finally, in 2006, citizen's property, taken nationally in these bank robberies, burglaries, and larcenies totals $72,687,678.56, and only 20% has been recovered. This does not include the cost of resources involved in conducting criminal investigations. When bank theft occurs, everyone suffers financially.

It is in the best interest of all North Carolinians to help the FBI Charlotte identify and arrest these criminals who have robbed the following banks located in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus and Gaston counties this year. Each bank listed below, links to a full description of the crime including any surveillance images that has been provided by FBI Charlotte. These criminals could easily be your next door neighbors, so take a good hard look at these individuals.

As you can see by the physical descriptions, many of these bank robberies in the Charlotte metropolitan area, have been committed by black males between the age 20 and 40. The 2000 U.S. census data shows 32% of persons living in Charlotte are Black or African American. This percentage is slightly more than double the U.S. national demographic profile 12%, therefore, explaining why there are a high number of bank robberies being committed by black males in Charlotte. Since the bank robberies in Charlotte have adhered to standard criminal methodology as well as Charlotte's demographic profile, there is a strong possibility that these criminals are still living in the Charlotte metropolitan area.

These bank robberies cause all citizens to suffer both socially and financially, law enforcement only has a finite number of resources and manpower is limited. Meanwhile, other crimes are being committed such as rape, murder and abduction. The resources being expended on searching for these bank robbers could be used for solving these crimes, but first the community must rally together and identity these criminals living amongst us. As stated earlier, it is in the best interest of all North Carolinians to help the FBI Charlotte identify and arrest these criminals who have robbed these banks in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus and Gaston counties this year.