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Suspect in bank incident taken into custody
Armed police officers scoured the area on Norman Boulevard where the suspect's car was abandoned.
Tammy Gamble, a cashier at Norma's Truck Stop, says the robber had a lot of "nerve." Norma's was packed with customers when the robber entered and demanded money from the register.
Suspect in bank incident taken into custody
Police say Brandon Martin charged with entering
a bank while armed with intent to steal monies
By TIM GULLA
Ledger Staff Writer
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Gaffney City Police have signed warrants against Brandon Lee Martin, 23, in connection with a 9 a.m. incident in which a masked, armed subject entered First Piedmont Federal Savings & Loan on West Floyd Baker Boulevard in Gaffney, Police Chief Rick Turner confirmed.
Authorities said no money was taken from the bank.
Moments after the incident at the bank, the same subject is believed responsible for the armed robbery of Norma's Truck Stop at Exit 95 off Interstate 85. A subject wearing the same clothing described by bank employees carried out that robbery and fled to a car parked on the frontage road. The car was later abandoned just two miles away on Norman Boulevard.
Police towed the abandoned vehicle, a Mitsubishi Gallant. Police also took into evidence an orange ski mask, a camouflage jacket and a handgun, all of which were found in a grassy field near the abandoned vehicle.
Tammy Gamble, a cashier at Norma's Truck Stop, was still shaken two hours after the incident, but was still hard at work at the front counter of the restaurant.
"I had a lot of people in here," she said. "I was just, you know, doing my job."
She never saw the robber enter and only noticed him when he was standing right in front of her, wearing a fluorescent orange ski mask over his face and a camouflage coat.
"Give me all your money," the robber damanded. Gamble said the robber then told her he didn't want any trouble.
The robber had a gun. "It was in the front of his pants," Gamble said. "He never pointed it at me, but he let me know he had one."
At the time of the robbery, there were at least 20 customers in the restaurant and four people were in line waiting to pay their bills. "It was full (in here)," Gamble said. "He had a lot of nerve."
Gamble said she dropped some money on the floor while trying to empty the cash register for the robber. She was told to pick up the money, and accidentally banged her head on the cash register when she attempted to stand back up.
Gamble said the robber was actually polite about the situation. "He said, 'Sorry about that.'"
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