Reward Offered in Austin Bank Heist

NOONDAY � A reward has been posted in connection with the June robbery of Austin Bank in Noonday. In cooperation with the Texas Bankers Association and other sources a $15,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons involved. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Smith County Sheriff’s Office at 903-566-6600.

Shortly after 7:00 on Friday morning, June 20th, dispatchers with the Smith County Sheriff�s Office received a 911 call reporting that the Austin Bank, located at 16909 Highway 155 South, had been robbed. A small-framed black male who was wearing an ace bandage over his face held a female employee at gunpoint as she arrived for work and prepared to enter the building. The robber instructed the woman to take him into the bank. She complied, and the robber left the bank with an undetermined amount of money using her vehicle as the getaway car. The woman was not harmed.

The car, a 2009 Cadillac, was found abandoned a couple of days later near the town of Cuney, in northwestern Cherokee County. According to Sheriff Larry Smith, �Smith County Sheriff�s Office Detectives are working in conjunction with the FBI and the Texas Rangers� on the case.