Man found guilty of bank robbery

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 2, 2009

By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
A jury has found a Winston-Salem man guilty of robbing a First Bank branch in Salisbury last spring.
Travis Denorris Arnold of 116 Highland Ave., Winston-Salem, will be sentenced May 22 for the crime.
He was found guilty in U.S. District Court Dec. 22 of bank robbery and aiding and abetting a bank robbery, according to court documents.
Another Winston-Salem man accused in the robbery, Joshua Jay Thompson of 1962 Bloomfield Drive, has yet to be tried. Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Thompson Dec. 10.
Salisbury Police arrested Arnold and Thompson the morning of April 15 not long after one of the men handed a First Bank teller a note demanding money.
The bank is located at 1525 Jake Alexander Blvd. S.
The robber with the note did not display a weapon, took the cash given to him and walked toward the parking lot. He got into a white, mid-sized sport utility vehicle at Old Concord Road and Chantilly Lane.
Responding to the robbery call, Salisbury Police Officer Alan Waller noticed a vehicle fitting the description of the getaway car near Reamer Circle and Old Concord Road.
Waller turned his cruiser around and stopped the vehicle on Arlington Street, just off Old Concord Road.
Reports said officers found money on one of the suspects and recovered clothes worn during the robbery from a trash can on Reamer Circle. The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office and N.C. Highway Patrol assisted Salisbury Police after the robbery.
Court documents from Arnold’s trial reveal that the money taken amounted to $865. Salisbury Police officers testified at the trial, held in Winston-Salem.