Man accused in string of bank robberies across the state heads to federal court

A man accused of holding up banks in four South Carolina cities, including one in West Ashley, heads to federal court in Charleston this month.

Georgetown police arrested 42-year-old Myrtle Beach resident Wesley Todd McCracken on Dec. 29 when, according to a report, they found him covered in red dye typically used by bank employees to mark stolen cash. McCracken faces four counts of bank robbery, according to a federal grand jury indictment.

The indictment says McCracken first held up a Wells Fargo Bank in Florence on Oct. 24. From there, according to the indictment, McCracken robbed a Bank of America in Columbia on Nov. 18.

Then, on Dec. 1, he allegedly held up the Wells Fargo at 1776 Ashley River Road in West Ashley.

In that case, authorities said a middle-aged man with a gray beard, a baseball cap and sunglasses came into the bank shortly before 2:30 p.m. He implied that he was armed, officials said, but never actually showed a weapon.

The alleged bank-robbing spree stopped more than two months after it began, according to the indictment, with a fourth robbery in Georgetown. McCracken held up a South Carolina Bank and Trust branch there, court records say.

Two men stopped him in a nearby restaurant parking lot. A police report from that day describes McCracken lying on the ground, covered in red dye, with $520 in cash nearby splashed with the same telltale ink.

McCracken’s case heads to a pre-trial conference in federal court later this month.

Reach Allyson Bird at 937-5594 or Twitter.com/ allysonjbird.