What should have been a routine transaction Thursday night for Faye Parr at the Heritage Bank’s Midway branch turned potentially deadly when a man robbed her at gunpoint.
Parr, driving her 2005 Toyota Matrix, had driven up to the ATM behind the Butler Street business shortly after 8:30 p.m.
She said she planned to withdraw gas money for her husband, Ricky Bolton, who commutes daily to his job in South Carolina.
Parr, whose transaction was captured on the bank’s surveillance video, is seen driving up to the ATM, punching in her PIN and taking the cash. As the cash was dispensed, according to Parr, a $20 bill dropped to the ground. She opened her car door, bent down to get the bill and was going to get out to look under her car for any others.
“Just as I was bending down to get the money I saw his jeans and sat upright as he pointed a gun in my face,” Parr said in a telephone interview Friday night. “I just threw the money out the window and it looked to me as if he was trying to catch it.”
After throwing the money, Parr started her car and drove off as the gunman began scooping it from the ground. He left $40 on the ground and apparently dropped a $20 near the woodline he ran into after the crime.
Parr said, “I thought he was going to kill me.”
Parr drove to the nearby IGA grocery and asked a man leaving the store if she could use his cell phone.
“I was going to call 911, but couldn’t dial the number. The man was nice enough to make the call and also call my husband.”
Parr had intended to get the money earlier in the day, but had been delayed. She had figured since it was still daylight she would get the cash and drive to her Lake George home. No businesses or homes face the area behind the bank and Parr said she hadn’t noticed the gunman when she drove up. She believes he came from the woods across an alley next to the ATM.
Parr said the bank has promised to reimburse her loss, but she said that was the last time she would use an ATM.
“I will never use an ATM again. From now on I will go inside the bank when I need to get money.”
According to Liberty County Sheriffs Office Det. Brian Barnes, the area has been the site of other robberies.
“Several years ago we had Michael Norby killed when he went to pay his stepdaughter’s cell phone bill and he was mistaken for the manager of a nearby store who normally made a deposit around the time Norby showed up. There was also an incident where a stolen truck was driven into the ATM, trying to break it open.”
According to the incident report filed by Midway Police Officer Page Duvale, the gunman is described as white male, wearing blue jeans, sneakers and a blue shirt. He had a black skull cap and his face was covered with a scarf.
Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call Barnes at his direct line, 408-3107, the detectives’ office at 876-4555, or 911.
Parr, driving her 2005 Toyota Matrix, had driven up to the ATM behind the Butler Street business shortly after 8:30 p.m.
She said she planned to withdraw gas money for her husband, Ricky Bolton, who commutes daily to his job in South Carolina.
Parr, whose transaction was captured on the bank’s surveillance video, is seen driving up to the ATM, punching in her PIN and taking the cash. As the cash was dispensed, according to Parr, a $20 bill dropped to the ground. She opened her car door, bent down to get the bill and was going to get out to look under her car for any others.
“Just as I was bending down to get the money I saw his jeans and sat upright as he pointed a gun in my face,” Parr said in a telephone interview Friday night. “I just threw the money out the window and it looked to me as if he was trying to catch it.”
After throwing the money, Parr started her car and drove off as the gunman began scooping it from the ground. He left $40 on the ground and apparently dropped a $20 near the woodline he ran into after the crime.
Parr said, “I thought he was going to kill me.”
Parr drove to the nearby IGA grocery and asked a man leaving the store if she could use his cell phone.
“I was going to call 911, but couldn’t dial the number. The man was nice enough to make the call and also call my husband.”
Parr had intended to get the money earlier in the day, but had been delayed. She had figured since it was still daylight she would get the cash and drive to her Lake George home. No businesses or homes face the area behind the bank and Parr said she hadn’t noticed the gunman when she drove up. She believes he came from the woods across an alley next to the ATM.
Parr said the bank has promised to reimburse her loss, but she said that was the last time she would use an ATM.
“I will never use an ATM again. From now on I will go inside the bank when I need to get money.”
According to Liberty County Sheriffs Office Det. Brian Barnes, the area has been the site of other robberies.
“Several years ago we had Michael Norby killed when he went to pay his stepdaughter’s cell phone bill and he was mistaken for the manager of a nearby store who normally made a deposit around the time Norby showed up. There was also an incident where a stolen truck was driven into the ATM, trying to break it open.”
According to the incident report filed by Midway Police Officer Page Duvale, the gunman is described as white male, wearing blue jeans, sneakers and a blue shirt. He had a black skull cap and his face was covered with a scarf.
Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call Barnes at his direct line, 408-3107, the detectives’ office at 876-4555, or 911.