News 12 First at Five, December 04, 2008

AUGUSTA, Ga -- Two armed robbers are on the run and Richmond County investigators are hot on their trail after a bank robbery near downtown Augusta this morning.

The early morning robbery sent four schools into lock down mode including Paine College, Lamar Elementary, ARC and Tubman Middle.

For more than two hours, dozens of deputies searched the area where the two robbers ditched their stolen get away car near Tubman Middle.

Deputies found the stolen get away car within seconds of it being abandoned by the suspects and tonight they hope it will be the clue that cracks the case.

Lt. Scott Peebles with the Richmond County Sheriff's Office says it's getaway car at the center of a bank robbery investigation. "The car is going to be the key at this point."

That's because it was reported stolen Wednesday night from the Augusta Mall, then used Thursday morning by two bank robbers who held up the Georgia Bank and Trust on Walton Way to make their getaway.

But they didn't get far, ditching the Chevy Caprice a few blocks away near the intersection of Parnell Street and Emmett Street and leaving a trail of stolen cash, covered in red dye, to mark their path.

"It's clear from the scene a dye-pack was employed and that it did go off so the suspects and their clothing would have had, and their skin, would have red dye and may still have red dye on them." explains Lt. Peebles.

As crime scene techs bagged the stolen green now dyed red for evidence, dozens of investigators from Richmond County's Crime Suppression team, Major Case Squad, traffic division and tracking dogs swarmed the neighborhood searching cars, under homes, and inside abandoned houses.

"It just amazing to me how some people are." 50-year-old Tommy Stacy grew up in the neighborhood and for him, this scene and the four schools on lock down was unsettling. "You never know, these guys are desperate to get away sometimes and not telling what they might do with kids involved."

But a bit of good news says Lt. Peebles. "No indication whatsoever that anybody has gone onto school grounds."

A tense and possibly dangerous situation with two armed men in the neighborhood and as for Tommy, "I don't see how they could get away from all of this."

Investigators believe their time on the run won't last because they have this, the car that could be the key to lock-up these robbers.

Investigators say they responded to the abandoned car very quickly, in under a minute, so the fact that their search didn't turn up any of the two suspects leads them to believe the men had a plan and got away in another car.

Investigators are asking if you saw the Green 1990 Chevy Caprice from any point Wednesday night until Thursday morning to call the Sheriff's Office.