Elkmont bank robbed

July 25, 2008 11:05 pm

— Tim Wallace, the man Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely said robbed the same bank twice in 13 years, wrecked Friday afternoon after hitting Superior Bank on Alabama 127 at Elkmont for the second time.
Blakely said that Wallace, 38, of Madison robbed the same bank — then called Community Bank — 13 years ago and was tried and convicted in federal court and sentenced to serve 12 years in prison.
The sheriff said Wallace may be a suspect in at least one Madison bank robbery in recent days.
Wallace was transported by ambulance to Huntsville Hospital with probable head injuries after he left Pepper Road at a high speed, traveled about 150 yards and hit several small trees under a bridge, at the edge of a creek.
Friday’s events began to unfold at 5 p.m. when bank employees reported that a white male wearing a bandanna and white cap and brandishing a silver-plated handgun, stuck up the bank and fled in an F-150 red pickup truck.
A chase ensued involving both Limestone County deputies and Athens Police officers. The lawmen quickly stationed cars at all arteries leading out of Elkmont. Radio transmissions indicated that the F-150 truck had been spotted in Prospect, Tenn.
However, Limestone Deputy Justin Flanagan and Reserve Deputy Randall McCrary spotted the truck headed southbound at the 263-Mile marker of Interstate 65.
“He got off the interstate at U.S. 31 and then turned up Alabama 251,” said Blakely. “Next, he cut across on Oakdale Road and then east on Pepper Road.”
Radio transmissions said that Wallace was clocked going 70 mph on the two-lane side roads. The suspect apparently lost control and left the right side of Pepper Road and wrecked under the bridge at 5:45 p.m.
“I just want to thank the Athens Police Department for all the help they gave us,” said Blakely. “I’m just so proud of all the officers involved in this. They did an outstanding piece of police work. All the staff came out and covered roads, even those people who were getting off work jumped in their cars.”
Blakely said he believed Wallace might be the one Madison County law officers are looking for in connection with two recent bank robberies in Madison.
“He looks very similar (to the bank surveillance photos),” he said. “He has the same kind of mustache. We told Madison County authorities that.”
Blakely said Wallace robbed the Elkmont bank in 1995.
“I remember that one too,” he said. “I arrested him in Decatur after he robbed the bank.”
The bank, which is located just north of the Elkmont Rural Village, has been the target of several robberies since it opened its doors.
Three other men robbed the bank three years ago and were the subject of a Limestone County manhunt. The robbers escaped, but were later arrested and convicted for the robbery.
Before that robbery, thieves hooked a log chain to a vehicle and pulled the ATM machine from the building. They made off with an undetermined amount of money. The suspects were never caught.
A Medflight helicopter was dispatched to the scene Friday, but did not pick up Wallace. Athens-Limestone Ambulance Service transported him to the hospital.

Photos

Lawmen and paramedics remove Tim Wallace, 38, of Madison from his pickup truck Friday after he ran off Pepper Road and wrecked beneath a bridge. Wallace was being chased by lawmen when he lost control. He is accused of robbing Superior Bank at Elkmont 45 minutes earlier. News Courier reporter