Craig Robinson, 28, of Atlanta, is being held in connection with the Friday armed hold-up of Bank of the Ozarks in Adairsville and the Tuesday robbery of BB&T on Ga. 53 in Calhoun. It was unclear at press time Wednesday if he had been charged, and if so by which law enforcement agency.
Adairsville Police Department Capt. Ronnie Raines said Robinson could face federal charges in connection with the Adairsville robbery in which a man brandished a firearm and demanded money, and related to the Calhoun incident. Robinson allegedly used a handwritten note to demand cash during that bank robbery.
According to Raines and a Calhoun Police Department news release, Robinson confessed to both bank robberies.
"He [stated] in the interview that he decided to come to north Georgia to rob the banks," Raines said. "He said he needed the money. He said he was basing some of it on President Obama, all his speeches, but I think it was just an excuse to do it.
"He just said there's no jobs out here. That was one of the biggest things he told us."
Raines added that authorities did not recover evidence linking Robinson, who has a criminal record, to the Adairsville incident. Police have surveillance footage of both incidents.
Less than an hour after the 4:30 p.m. Tuesday robbery, Robinson was apprehended following a high-speed chase on Interstate 75 southbound.
In a Bartow County Sheriff's Office incident report, a deputy who joined the pursuit said Robinson's vehicle attempted to strike several patrol cars, reached 110 mph and ran numerous vehicles off the road.
The chase came to an end when four patrol cars attempted to box in Robinson's vehicle, but he swerved, struck a Georgia State Patrol trooper's car, spun out and traveled down an embankment on I-75 at Ga. 20.
The black Pontiac Grand Prix came to rest in a ditch between I-75 and the Ga. 20 exit ramp in Cartersville. Robinson complained of back pain and was taken to the hospital via ambulance.
Although some of the circumstances of the robberies were different -- Robinson allegedly hit the Adairsville bank around noon Friday -- in both incidents the robber first fled on foot, apparently later entering a vehicle to flee the scene.
According to police scanner traffic and the news release, an off-duty police officer spotted Robinson running after the Tuesday robbery and authorities were alerted to his whereabouts. Robinson is suspected of taking undisclosed amounts of money from both banks.
He was boarded in the Gordon County Jail, and the investigation is ongoing, according to the press release.
Raines said Robinson on Wednesday was not suspected in additional bank robberies.