Aug. 27--KNOXVILLE -- Authorities say they've identified the serial bank robber suspected in at least 10 bank heists across the South and issued a federal warrant for his arrest.

Chad E. Schaffner, 36, faces two charges of bank robbery and of use of a gun during a bank robbery.

Among the robberies are two in Jefferson City and Morristown last week.

Other locations include Edenton, Fayetteville, Hendersonville and Fletcher, N.C.; Forest Acres, Myrtle Beach and Mount Pleasant, S.C.; and Louisville, Ky.

Billboards bearing the robber's photo are located throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Georgia and Alabama.

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

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 in Jefferson City with a black pistol, according to police.

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

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

He demanded money and brandished a black semi-automatic handgun. When the employees complied, he ordered them to lie on the floor, grabbed the money and fled.

Authorities described Schaffner as white, about 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He might be driving a black 1994 GMC pickup with Tennessee license plate 360WLN or a red 1994 Chevy pickup with South Carolina license EVE177.

Authorities asked that anyone with information about Schaffner call 865-544-0751.

-----

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.