West Frankfort Banterra Bank robbed; police rapidly located, arrested accused bandit
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A West Frankfort man is in custody at Franklin County Jail in Benton, accused by police of robbing the West Frankfort Banterra Bank, located at 110 E. Oak St., early Thursday afternoon.
West Frankfort Chief of Police Jeff Tharp said authorities arrested and charged Joshua S. Melvin, 29, with Financial Institution Robbery after locating him at a 109 S. Monroe St. residence, where officers also recovered $3,000 in cash around 1:45 p.m. The chief also stated that two other male suspects were in police custody and, since that time, one has been arrested and charged with the same crime, while the other was released.
"We know that there was one person directly involved with going into the bank to commit the robbery," said Tharp.
Friday morning, the chief released a statement saying that Chad Phelps, 40, of West Frankfort, was the second person charged in the robbery.
Tharp said Melvin entered the bank at around 12:30 p.m. and passed a note to a teller stating that he was armed and demanded cash. After receiving the money, Melvin exited the bank and fled on foot northbound on Emma Street, then east through an adjacent alley.
Police were reportedly able to track Melvin through eyewitness accounts and by following items of evidence to the Monroe Street residence. Inside the house, authorities recovered clothing consistent with what the suspect had been described as wearing during the robbery, as well as a large amount of currency.
"The citizens were beneficial to the apprehension. The few that were in the area recognized that something just didn't look right to them and stuck that in their minds so that when units got into the area, they could relay that information to officers. The direction of travel is something that you always want to have," related Tharp.
Tharp said that a search warrant was issued to authorities who remained at the residence sweeping for additional items of evidentiary value. A number of police agencies, including the Franklin County Sheriff's Office and the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigation Unit, are helping with the investigation.
"We were assisted by numerous other agencies that came in and immediately jumped into the investigation with us to aid us with perimeters and saturation searches," said Tharp.
No injuries were reported during the incident and Tharp commended bank employees for their actions while the robbery took place.
"The teller did what they were supposed to do and was a very good witness, that's all we can ask for," he said.
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