RALEIGH -- Bank robberies this year are down across North Carolina, but it's up in Raleigh. That's in large part to three men described by police as repeat robbers.
The police announced the upward spike in bank robberies during a press conference this afternoon on the lawn of the offices of the N.C. Bankers Association in North Raleigh.
Ed Aycock, vice president of the bankers association, was flanked by Raleigh Police Chief Harry Dolan and Jody Norris, the FBI's criminal assistant special agent in charge.
Aycock wanted to remind bank customers to be extra vigilant of criminal activity because it is the holiday season.
"Bank robberies during the holiday season tend to go up for economic reasons, especially in this economy," Norris said.
Aycock and the law officers discussed the pros and cons of using more technology to deter bank robberies, but at the end of the day they agreed public awareness is essential.
"Awareness of the (bankers association) reward program helps," said Brandon Wright, a bankers association spokesman. "Word of mouth is often the key, definitely, both in prevention and prosecution."
Chief Dolan noted that there have been 18 banks robbed so far in Raleigh this year, but he added that robberies overall have been declining since 2008.
"There has been a significant reduction," he said.
But the 18 bank robberies in Raleigh this year are the most reported by any North Carolina city. Charlotte has the second most, with 12, and Durham reported 10 bank robberies. Other cities across the state, including Cary, Chapel Hill, Zebulon and Greensboro reported five robberies or less.
Dolan attributed the Raleigh increase to the work of three men who are currently in jail after police charged them with multiple robbery offenses.
Lee Bennett Pope, Jason Trent Goodine and James Earquahart face charges in 11 of the city's bank robberies this year, said Jim Sughrue, a Raleigh police spokesman.
Goodine, 33, was charged in August with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon after police accused him of twice robbing a Wachovia branch at 4560 Capital Blvd.
One month earlier, police charged James Milton Earquahart, 50, with four counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon. The heists occurred Jan. 21 at a Wachovia branch at 6623 Falls of Neuse Road and Feb. 26 at a Suntrust branch at 3620 Six Forks Road, where he struck a teller with a handgun. He also is charged with two holdups at a Wachovia at 2600 Hillsborough Street. The robberies occurred on March 31 and June 2 when he fired a gun shot, police reported.
Earquhart also was charged with a 2009 bank robbery in Cary and two more that year in Raleigh, Sughrue said.
Pope, 38, from Sept. 24 through Oct. 19 is accused of robbing five Raleigh banks. Investigators have also charged him with robberies in Durham, Chapel Hill, Zebulon and Cary. So prolific was Pope, the FBI dubbed him the "Repeat Robber" before his arrest in October.
"Those 11 account for 61 percent of the robberies we have had," Sughrue said.
Six of the seven remaining robberies reported in Raleigh remain unsolved, police reported.
The 18 robberies this year are the highest number reported in Raleigh in the past five years. Sughrue noted that there were 14 bank robberies reported in 2006, 12 in 2007, 13 in 2008 and 13 more in 2009.
Dolan encouraged members of the public to become "a very good witness" if they see a bank robbery in progress.
"If you see a vulnerability at a bank, talk with a manager," he said.
