Billboards Help FBI Name Suspect In Brazen Robbery

DUNCAN MANSFIELD

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The brazen bank robber didn't bother to hide his face as he threatened tellers with a gun in at least 10 heists from Kentucky to the Carolinas to Tennessee.

Now the FBI has named a suspect after bank surveillance photos from holdups dating to May were flashed on electronic billboards across the South. And authorities say the same man is now suspected of robbing an Indiana bank on Friday.

The case is a powerful demonstration of the technological leap from the old wanted posters hanging in the post office. A four-month search using traditional investigation techniques hadn't worked, yet the suspect was identified within 24 hours of the photo popping up on wall-size electronic highway signs in eight states.

"We basically were flooded with calls and tips. Hundreds of them," said FBI Agent Kevin Keithley in Johnson City, Tenn. "And that is what we were looking for."

The FBI says a public service network of 1,000 electronic billboards in 40 states organized by major billboard companies and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America has led directly to the capture of 20 felons and fugitives and aided in arresting many others since it was created 18 months ago.