A reward is being offered for information that will lead authorities to the man who robbed a Boulevard banking facility Tuesday morning.

"A substantial reward is being offered," Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Capt. Mike Adams said. "Investigators are in the process of digitally enhancing video footage, which did capture the suspect ..."

Orangeburg Department of Public Safety officers and State Law Enforcement Division agents scoured the residential areas north of Boulevard Street, searching for the man who robbed State Credit Union.

Police say the man entered the banking facility around 10:13 a.m. carrying a package in a white plastic bag. He told bank employees the package contained explosives and then handed tellers a note that demanded money.

"He was not armed," Adams said. "But the robber implied that he had an explosive device that he had carried into the credit union."

No one was injured in the robbery, Adams said.

After getting a small amount of cash, the package-toting man then fled the bank on foot, apparently crossing Boulevard before fleeing north on Fairfield Street, Adams said.

ODPS and SLED canine teams zeroed in on the area in an attempt to track the man, finding what is believed to be his clothing about 200 yards from the bank. Police say the man apparently discarded an outer layer of clothing.

When he entered the bank, the man was wearing a navy blue, hooded sweatshirt and dark colored ball cap.

Also found near the clothing was a plastic bag. Police treated the bag with caution, considering the individual's threat.

A SLED bomb squad was called in to inspect the suspicious bag, which was found along the man's escape route. At about 12:27 p.m., a detonation could be heard in the Fairfield Street neighborhood.

After rendering the package safe, police found it contained no explosive devices.

The canines were called off about mid-afternoon Tuesday after the trail faded.

However, police were able to recover what they consider a substantial amount of forensic and physical evidence from the bank and the area where the clothing was found near Fairfield Street.

"We're confident that this information will put us in the right direction," Adams said. "We are following some very promising leads."

Tuesday's bank robbery comes three weeks after another in Orangeburg. First Citizen's Bank, at the junction of Russell and Broughton Streets, was robbed Oct. 9. Last week, a 54-year-old Lowcountry man was charged in that case.

If anyone has any information concerning Tuesday robbery, they are asked to contact Crimestoppers of the Midlands at 1-888-559-TIPS or the ODPS at 803-533-5907.

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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