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Newton police nab bank robbery suspectNEWTON, Nov 30, 2008 (Hickory Daily Record - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Newton police have arrested a suspect in Friday's robbery of the North Newton branch of Peoples Bank. Jonathan Christopher Cooke, a Newton resident, was taken into custody Saturday. He is charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon. His first court appearance is Monday. Cooke was in the Catawba County Detention Center on Saturday under a $50,000 bond. Newton police said the investigation of the bank robbery is ongoing. It was the second bank robbery in less than a week in Catawba County. Newton police responded to an alarm at the branch bank at 2619 N. Main Ave. at approximately 2:36 p.m. Friday. Witnesses told police the bank was robbed at gunpoint. The suspect left the bank on foot. The Hickory Police Department and its K-9 unit assisted Newton officers. The Conover Police Department, the Catawba County Sheriff's Office and the Highway Patrol helped set up a perimeter. The Hickory K-9 unit picked up a track to the area of 26th Street, where the dog lost the trail. Monday, two people were involved in a bank robbery at the BB&T branch on 12th Avenue, NE, (Springs Road) in Hickory. The suspects in that robbery were described as a light-skinned black man and a light-skinned black woman. The suspects were wearing hoodies. The man displayed a handgun, at one point getting up on the counter to threaten the teller, according to reports. The suspects fled from the bank on foot. K-9 units were called to the scene to track the suspects, but the trail went cold. That investigation also is continuing. To see more of the Hickory Daily Record or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.hickoryrecord.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Hickory Daily Record, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |