A Louisiana man was arrested during the lunch hour Wednesday shortly after, authorities say, he robbed a Junction City bank at gunpoint and fled with an undetermined amount of cash.
Bryan W. Cook, 51, who listed an address in Junction City, La., was taken into custody just across the Arkansas-Louisiana state line, not far from Generations Bank, 131 N. Main St., where the reported robbery occurred.
Cook faces charges of aggravated robbery and a felon in possession of a firearm. He was being held in the Claiborne Parish jail in Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon, pending extradition to Union County in south Arkansas.
Union County Sheriff Mike McGough said deputies from his agency and the Claiborne Parish sheriff's office responded at noon to a report of an armed robbery at Generations Bank, which is on the Arkansas side of the state line.
A man entered the bank with a handgun and demanded money. At least three employees were on duty at the time, and there were no customers inside the bank when the robbery occurred. No injuries were reported.
Based on information provided by a witness, deputies arrested Cook later in the area of Harde Mart and Family Dollar, both just south of the state line.
McGough said Cook was driving a dark van, and during a search of the vehicle, deputies recovered a handgun and cash.
McGough declined to disclose the amount of cash found in the van, saying that Generations will conduct an audit to determine how much money is missing.
He said the investigation is ongoing and that he does not anticipate any additional arrests or criminal charges to be filed.
State Desk on 08/22/2016