HOLLY HILL – Four suspects are being sought in connection with the June 25 armed robbery of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of South Carolina on Old State Road in Holly Hill.

Holly Hill Police Chief Robert Wunderlich announced Tuesday that his department and the State Law Enforcement Division have been working closely on the case and that an announcement about the suspects in the case may be forthcoming in the next few days.

“There may be other people involved in this, either before or after the fact,” Wunderlich said. “There are four suspects right now, but that could possibly increase.”

Four masked men robbed the Farmers & Merchants Bank of South Carolina’s main office in Holly Hill shortly before 11 a.m. on June 25.

Denise M. Taiste, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Columbia office, reported on June 25 that the only descriptions provided of the suspects were that one of the men was wearing a red baseball cap, one was carrying an automatic Glock pistol and one was armed with a silver revolver. Taiste said the suspects left the bank in a light gold Dodge Stratus, with slightly tinted windows, traveling on Highway 453 in the direction of Interstate 26.

A light gold Dodge Stratus, which witnesses described as the vehicle used in the bank robbery, was later located thanks to a collaborative effort between the Holly Hill Police Department and SLED, Wunderlich said.

A witness jotted down a license plate number located on the getaway vehicle, he said. The plate number, however, didn’t seem to correlate with the vehicle’s registration, Wunderlich said. As it turned out, the witness had mistakenly inverted a couple of numbers or letters, and Wunderlich was able to rearrange the series of numbers and letters until he found a matching plate for the Dodge Stratus, he said.

SLED obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and recovered it in Ladson, Wunderlich said.

He noted that the four suspects in the Holly Hill bank heist are not from Orangeburg County and that at least one of the suspects faces several charges in multiple jurisdictions.

Last week’s armed bank robbery lasted less than two minutes, and no one was injured during the incident.

Tipsters, who will remain anonymous, are encouraged to contact the Holly Hill Police Department, 803-496-3811, or Crimestoppers to report any information they may have about this case.

T&D Correspondent Martha Rose Brown can be reached by e-mail at marfawose@aol.com.

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