Tracking device guides authorites to bank robbing suspect

Charleston police apprehended a suspect in the Friday morning robbery of a Bank of America branch after a tracking device helped lead them to a man in the Ladson area.

Bank workers told police a man around 60 years old walked into the branch at 281 Calhoun St. and handed a teller a note demanding cash around 9:49 a.m., public information officer Charles Francis said. No weapon was seen, he said.

The man fled with an undisclosed amount of money, but he didn't know police had an edge in the hunt that followed.

Dispatchers told officers over the police radio that bank workers had somehow inserted an electronic tracking device in the loot. The device allowed dispatchers to follow the robber's progress and relay his position to officers as he fled along Interstate 26.

Fortunately for police, his flight was reportedly delayed at points by a crash near Ashley Phosphate Road in North Charleston that snarled traffic in the area.

Police stopped the car along College Park Road and arrested the suspect a short time later, Francis said. Francis declined to discuss the tracking device.

He said Mark Tirico, 47, of Summerville, is charged with entering a bank with intent to steal. Tirico remained at the Charleston County Detention Center Friday night, awaiting a bond hearing.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.