A man was arrested Tuesday morning in connection with a string of bank robberies in the Triangle, Raleigh police said, and more charges are possible.
Lee Bennett Pope, 37, who has addresses in Garner, Raleigh and Whitakers, was charged with six counts of common law robbery and one count of attempted common law robbery in crimes ranging from Sept. 26 to Oct. 19.
He was in the Wake County jail Tuesday morning under at least $1 million bond.
The arrest comes after at least a dozen robberies in the Triangle area, most within the past month, in which a man with facial hair, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap handed bank tellers notes demanding money.
In addition to the Wake County bank robberies, federal and local authorities believe the man, whom they dubbed “the Repeat Robber,” was also responsible for four other bank robberies in Durham and Chapel Hill.
It was not immediately clear whether Pope has been charged in the other four cases.
Also unclear, was whether he is a suspect in an Aug. 10, 2009, bank robbery in Raleigh, in which police linked to the “Repeat Robber.”
According to the North Carolina Department of Correction, Pope is listed as absconder from probation supervision. He is on two years’ probation for a July 2010 conviction for selling drugs.
Court records also indicate that he was most recently charged on Sept. 9 in Durham for driving with a revoked license.
Pope also has arrests for a number of drug charges in Durham and Wake counties, as well as charges of misdemeanor larceny and driving without a registration and with expired vehicle tags.
According to federal court records, Pope was sentenced to 49 months in prison for charges related to a bank robbery in Maryland. He was released in March 1999 and was on supervised release for two years.
source: WRAL.com
