By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

ROCKWELL — An Albemarle man faces felony charges in two bank robberies after he was identified as a suspect in an Albemarle robbery and was captured Wednesday within minutes of robbing a Rockwell bank.

Rashun Quintes Spivey, 22, of the 700 block of South Fourth Street, was charged with two counts felony robbery with a dangerous weapon.

On Monday around 10:15 a.m. a man wearing a camouflage-colored baseball cap with a North Carolina Tarheel emblem on it, a long sleeved dark shirt and dark pants, walked into Wells Fargo bank, 200 East Main St. in Albemarle. The man, later identified as Rashun Spivey, gave the teller a note and demanded money.

The clerk gave the man money and he left the bank on foot.

Albemarle Police obtained video footage and released still images of the suspect to area media and on the department’s social media pages, said Capt. David Dulin. He said within a few hours Spivey was positively identified by name.

Just before 10 a.m. on Wednesday a man entered F&M Bank, 418 W. Main St., Rockwell, handed the teller a note said he had a gun and demanded the $50 and $100 bills. He got the money and left on foot.

Rockwell Police were able to apprehend the man, later identified as Spivey, within five minutes of the robbery a block away at Division Avenue, near Salisbury Street, said Rockwell Police Chief Hugh Bost.

Spivey was in a wooded area, Bost said, he came out and complied with officers orders to get on the ground. A police dog track led officers from the wooded area back to the bank.

Bost said Spivey still had the hat that he was seen wearing in the Albemarle robbery and an empty F&M bank envelope was found in a nearby bush. When officers searched Spivey he had the money in his pocket.

Bank personnel and witnesses were able to identify Spivey as the man who’d just robbed the bank.

Bost said he believed the last bank robbery occurred in Rockwell over 20 years ago. This is the first bank robbery in Bost’s tenure since becoming chief in 1999.

“As always, our first priority is to ensure that no one was harmed. Fortunately, our well-trained staff precisely followed safety procedures, resulting in no injuries,” said F&M Bank CEO Steve Fisher.

Fisher said they are grateful to law enforcement and thank all of the officers and investigators involved, especially Chief Bost and Jim Richardson with the Rockwell Police Department, Patrick Schmeltzer and Gene Smitley with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office and Adam Loflin with the SBI.

Spivey remains in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $250,000 secured bond. The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office and State Bureau of Investigation also assisted. He is scheduled for a first court appearance Friday.

Contact reporter Shavonne Walker at 704-797-4253.