Aug. 19--KNOXVILLE -- Authorities believe a man who robbed banks in Jefferson City and Morristown on Tuesday may be the same individual responsible for a half-dozen similar holdups in North and South Carolina, police confirmed today.

Police haven't concluded that the banks were robbed by the same suspect but are cooperating closely with one another due to the similarities between the crimes, according to Morristown Police Department spokeswoman Bonnie Langdon.

"We are working with authorities in different jurisdictions," Langdon said.

The first of Tuesday's robberies happened about 1:10 p.m. at the Community National Bank, 156 E. Broadway Boulevard, when a man armed with a handgun came into the bank and robbed it of an undisclosed amount of cash, Holt said.

He was described as white, between 5 feet 9 and 5 feet 11, weighing about 200 pounds and sporting a goatee, Holt said.

Less than an hour later, a man with a goatee and a ball cap robbed the First Tennessee Bank branch at 2301 E. Andrew Johnson Highway with a black pistol, according to police.

The TBI announced last week that it had joined a two-state investigation of a serial robber who has struck six banks this summer in the Carolinas.

The bureau is working with the FBI, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to find the suspect.

The robber has entered the banks since mid-May without a disguise, engaged a teller in conversation and then began shouting and threatening employees, according to the TBI.

He demands money and brandishes a black semi-automatic handgun. When the employees comply, he orders them to lie on the floor, grabs the money and flees.

The banks robbed include:

--May 15, United Services Credit Union Fletcher, NC

--May 28, Wachovia Bank Forest Acres, SC

--June 19, First National Bank- Mount Pleasant, SC

--July 6, Lumbee Guarantee National Bank Fayetteville, NC

--July 15th, Southern Bank Edenton, NC

--July 29th, First Citizens Bank Hendersonville, NC

The suspect is a white, about 25, 5 feet 8 to 6 feet 1, about 200 pounds.

He has black, short shaved hair with a pronounced widow's peak, a goatee and tattoos on a large portion of both forearms.

He may drive a black Ford Bronco or a white Ford F-250 pick-up.

Investigators believe he is from an area close to the Carolinas and is considered armed and dangerous.

-----

To see more of The Knoxville News-Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.knoxnews.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, 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.

NASDAQ-OTCBB:CBNY,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.