On the run for years, federal authorities have finally caught up with the "Limping Bandit" who held up almost two dozen banks across four states.
Cecil Stephen Haire, 51, of Douglas, Ga., was apprehended Friday by the Mt. Pleasant Police Department following a bank robbery in Mt. Pleasant.
Haire is suspected of being the "Limping Bandit," responsible for 23 bank robberies committed throughout South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Florida dating back to 2006.
He was arrested on state robbery charges after a witness saw him leave the National Bank of South Carolina in Mt. Pleasant and provided authorities with his license plate number.
One of those banks robbed was the Security Federal Bank in Aiken; the robber also attacked a Carolina First Bank in Edgefield.
In all, more than half of the banks robbed were in South Carolina.
Investigators said the robber typically waited in line as a customer before each robbery and then produced a black handgun from under his shirt as he approached a teller. The Limping Bandit earned his nickname from witness accounts that said the robber limped while running away from various bank robberies.
In November 2007, witnesses at the Security Federal described the robber as a 6-foot, 2-inch, 220-pound limping male.
Haire limps because, according to FBI documents, his right leg is shorter than left, a result of suffering from polio as a child.
The FBI jointly investigated these robberies with Aiken Department of Public Safety; Charleston Police Department, Mt. Pleasant Police Department, Orangeburg Police Department, Summerville Police Department, Sumter Police Department, Lander Police Department, Tallahassee (Fla.) Police Department VCU; Lake City (Fla.) Police Department,; Dothan (Ala.) Police Department, Perry (Fla.) Police Department, Enterprise (Ala.) Police Department, Chipley (Fla.) Police Department, Moultrie (Ga.) Police Department, Cordele (Ga.) Police Department, and Tifton (Ga.) Police Department.
David A. Thomas, special agent in charge of the Columbia office of the FBI, expresses that the arrest was made possible due to the tireless efforts of the investigators, who have been working on these robberies since 2006.
Contact Mike Gellatly at mgellatly@aikenstandard.com.
Banks robbed
South Carolina (12):
Regions Bank, Summerville 9/11/2007
First Citizens Bank, Orangeburg 10/09/2007
National Bank of South Carolina, Mt. Pleasant 10/25/2007
First Federal, Charleston 10/25/2007
Security Federal Bank, Aiken 11/20/2007
BB&T, Sumter 12/27/2007
Carolina First Bank, Edgefield 1/3/2008
Bank of America, Orangeburg 4/10/2008
National Bank of South Carolina, Summerville 9/16/2008
National Bank of South Carolina, Charleston 4/9/2009
Regions Bank, Summerville 5/11/2009
National Bank of South Carolina, Mt. Pleasant 7/17/2009
Alabama (3):
Colonial Bank, Enterprise 3/13/2007
Colonial Bank, Ozark 9/4/2007
Colonial Bank, Dothan 12/19/2007
Georgia (3):
BB&T, Tifton 6/5/2006
Regions Bank, Cordele 6/20/2006
Southwest Georgia Bank, Moultrie 7/17/2006
Florida (5):
Capital City Bank, Chipley 11/6/2006
Wachovia Bank, Perry 5/16/2007
Wachovia Bank, Tallahassee 4/15/2008
First Federal Bank of Florida, Lake City 6/3/2008
People's First Community Bank, Tallahassee 1/2/2009
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Comment Title: Thank You
As a citizen of South Carolina that has relatives working in a bank, I want to say thank you to the person who turned him in. You've done a great good, and you have my gratitude.
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