Suspect captured in credit union robbery
From Staff Reports
Authorities have captured a man suspected in the robbery of a Maryville credit union two weeks ago.
Walter Stephen Lawson Jr., 32, is in the Blount County Detention Facility on a federal warrant for bank robbery in connection with the Jan. 16 robbery of the First Choice Community Credit Union on East Broadway Avenue as well as a local warrant for aggravated burglary. There was no court date or bond information available Tuesday night.
Kenneth L. Moore, special agent in charge at the FBI Knoxville office, and Blount County Sheriff James Lee Berrong announced Lawson’s capture late Tuesday evening.
Lawson was taken into custody Tuesday night following a short foot pursuit in the Butterfly Gap area of Blount County, according to a news release from the FBI and Blount County Sheriff’s Office.
Additional details regarding Lawson’s arrest should be available today, authorities said.
Lawson is a suspect in the robbery of the First Choice Community Credit Union, 2535 E. Broadway Ave., Maryville. The robbery occurred two weeks ago, on Jan. 16, in which a man fled with an undisclosed amount of money.
The suspect did not display a weapon during the incident, police said at the time, but did hand a teller a note stating he had a weapon and demanding money.
The suspect was seen fleeing to the neighborhood behind the bank and getting into a small, silver SUV, possibly a Saturn Vue, authorities said.
The Sheriff’s Office and the FBI Knoxville office worked the case in a joint operation.
Additional information will be forthcoming as it becomes available, authorities said.
