FBI Arrests Limping Bandit

Charleston, S.C. --The FBI has arrested a Georgia man wanted for robbing more than 23 banks in the Southeast dating back to 2006.

FBI agents say 51-year-old Cecil Haire was arrested Friday in Charleston shortly after he robbed the National Bank of South Carolina in Mount Pleasant. Agents say a witness saw him leave the bank and gave police his license plate number.

Haire, who is from Georgia, is suspected of robbing 23 banks across the Southeast dating back to 2006. These bank robberies were committed throughout South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Haire is also accused of robbing 3 banks in Alabama, 3 banks in Georgia and 5 banks in Florida.

Investigators revealed that Haire would typically wait in line at thebank as a customer before each robbery, and then pull a gun on the teller.

The FBI came up with the nickname the limping bandit from witness accounts that described the suspect as limping while running away from various bank robberies.

Agents say Haire's right leg is shorter than his left because he had Polio as a child.

The following is a list of the banks Haire is accused of robbing:

South Carolina (12):

• Regions Bank, Summerville, SC 9/11/2007
• First Citizens Bank, Orangeburg, SC 10/09/2007
• National Bank of SC, Mt. Pleasant, SC 10/25/2007
• First Federal, Charleston, SC 10/25/2007
• Security Federal Bank, Aiken, SC 11/20/2007
• BB&T, Sumter, SC 12/27/2007
• Carolina First Bank, Edgefield, SC 1/3/2008
• Bank of America, Orangeburg, SC 4/10/2008
• National Bank of SC, Summerville, SC 9/16/2008
• National Bank of SC, Charleston, SC 4/9/2009
• Regions Bank, Summerville, SC 5/11/2009
• National Bank of SC, Mt. Pleasant, SC 7/17/2009

Alabama (3):

• Colonial Bank, Enterprise, Alabama 3/13/2007
• Colonial Bank, Ozark, Alabama 9/4/2007
• Colonial Bank, Dothan, Alabama 12/19/2007

Georgia (3):

• BB&T, Tifton, Georgia 6/5/2006
• Regions Bank, Cordele, Georgia 6/20/2006
• Southwest Georgia Bank, Moultrie, Georgia 7/17/2006

Florida (5):

• Capital City Bank, Chipley, FL 11/6/2006
• Wachovia Bank, Perry, FL 5/16/2007
• Wachovia Bank, Tallahassee, FL 4/15/2008
• First Federal Bank of Florida, Lake City, FL 6/3/2008
• Peoples First Community Bank, Tallahassee, FL 1/2/2009

Haire is being held at the Charleston County jail.

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