Others interested in robbery suspects

Trio charged locally may be linked to out-of-state heists

Johnson

Koestner

Williams

A trio charged with robbing banks in Moncks Corner, Harleyville and Ridgeville are considered suspects in three out-of-state bank heists, police said Monday.

Authorities investigating unsolved robberies at two banks in Wilmington, N.C., and a bank in Indiana are interested in two men and a woman facing charges here, Moncks Corner police Lt. C. Wendell Bowen III said.

The suspects appeared Monday before a Dorchester County magistrate, who set bond at $750,000 each, said 1st Sgt. Mike Miller of the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office.

An FBI spokesman declined to discuss a possible connection between the local bank robberies and the out-of-state heists.

"Investigations are ongoing and it would be inappropriate for me to comment," said Michael Haas, a supervisory resident agent with the FBI.

Any bank holdup is a federal matter, he said, because the funds are protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. "Our goal would be to fully exploit and identity any further related criminal activity," he said.

A note demanding money was presented to tellers at two Dorchester County banks on July 18 A man presented a note demanding money at the Bank of South Carolina in Ridgeville. The same thing happened about 40 minutes later at South Carolina Bank and Trust in Harleyville, Miller said. He declined to say how much money the suspects received.

On Wednesday, a man brandished a .44-caliber handgun at three tellers at at South Carolina Bank and Trust in Moncks Corner, officials said. He left with $27,100. Shortly afterward, the suspects were apprehended in Cross in a car with an Indiana tag.

Lawanda Dee Johnson, 24; Auric Dylan Koestner, 30; and Brandon Evan Williams, 21, face charges of entering a financial institution with intent to steal, Miller said.

Moncks Corner police charged the suspects with bank robbery, conspiracy to commit bank robbery, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and use of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. A magistrate in Berkeley County set a $500,000 cash bond for each suspect on Friday.

The suspects traveled here from Indiana, where they live. Williams has family here, Bowen said. "The only reason that brought them back South was a family reunion," he said.

The 2004 Ford Taurus authorities said was used as the getaway car in each robbery is registered in Indiana.

Bowen noted that the local bank robberies escalated from notes demanding money to pointing a gun at tellers. "Who knows what would have been next," he said.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@ postandcourier.com.