North Charleston police investigating First Citizens Bank robbery, suspect arrested

A bank’s proximity to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office paid off for the financial institution and resulted in the prompt arrest of a man accused of robbing it this morning.

The First Citizens Bank on Rivers Avenue, about three-tenths of a mile from the sheriff’s headquarters in Pinehaven Drive, was robbed just before 9 a.m.

A robber wearing a cap and sunglasses walked in and demanded money at gunpoint. Two tellers gave him cash before he ran and jumped into a car.

But a sheriff’s deputy already was following the getaway car, a black Mercedes with two people inside, when the North Charleston Police Department got the call, police spokesman Spencer Pryor said in a statement. Cruisers started following the vehicle but lost it in the Union Heights area.

In a short while, though, an officer and a deputy noticed a pedestrian on Arbutus Street that fit the robber’s description. After a foot chase, the man was arrested.

“The suspect had a black bag containing a handgun and money,” Pryor said. “He also had in his possession a change of clothes, sunglasses and a black cap.”

Clarence Anthony King, 55, of Token Street in North Charleston was arrested on a charge of armed robbery. He is expected to appear for a bond hearing this morning.

Authorities continued to look for the driver of the Mercedes.