Suspect in bank robbery arrested

A 51-year-old Gaffney man was jailed at the Spartanburg County Detention Center on Friday after he was arrested for the alleged robbery of a Spartanburg bank.

According to a police report from the Spartanburg Department of Public Safety, an officer was dispatched to the Palmetto Bank at 1544 E. Main St. just before 10 a.m. Friday regarding a report that a middle-aged, bearded man with salt and pepper hair had walked into the bank, leaned over the counter and whispered to a teller: "Give me all of your money. I am robbing you."

The teller told police she began to look around and the robber commanded her attention by tapping his finger on the counter and once again saying, "Hey, I'm robbing you."

Police took James Ray Gathings, of Marietta Road, Gaffney, into custody Friday afternoon. He was booked into the Spartanburg Detention Center on a charge of entering a bank with the intent to steal and was being held in lieu of $100,000 bond as of Sunday.

Police said no weapon was shown during the robbery.

Bank employees had told police the suspect walked around the rear of the building after he left with an undisclosed amount of money and it was unclear if he had left the area on foot or in a vehicle.

Police K-9 units were called to the scene but the dogs could not locate the suspect.

The Spartanburg Department of Public Safety had put out a release with a detailed description of the bank robber Friday with a plea for public assistance in identifying him. By late Friday afternoon, police announced Gathings had been taken into custody with the assistance of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.