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FBI offers reward for Clay bank robber

By Eric Cravey
Posted 11/14/18

TAMPA – The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a $5,000 reward for the 60-year-old man caught on video robbing the Bank of American branch near Orange Park in October.

Myron William …

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FBI offers reward for Clay bank robber


Posted

TAMPA – The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a $5,000 reward for the 60-year-old man caught on video robbing the Bank of American branch near Orange Park in October.

Myron William Ernst, of North Charleston, S.C., calmly heisted an undisclosed amount of cash on Oct. 9 from the bank at 29 Blanding Blvd. and drove away in a Lexus that was believed to have a Florida Gators license plate.

According to the FBI poster that was created Nov. 9, Ernst “is known to have violent tendencies and is an escape risk.” U.S. District Court officials in Jacksonville issued a warrant for his arrest on Oct. 31.

The FBI and other published reports say Ernst has returned this year to rob to bank branches he robbed in a spree dating back to 2008 and 2009. According to federal court records, Ernst first robbed the Bank of America at 29 Blanding Blvd. on June 30, 2008 and was indicted for that heist in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville on August 12, 2009. In the 2008 robbery, he got away with $2,000 from the same Bank of America branch.

Ernst is suspected of bank robberies in the Alabama cities of Hoover, Huntsville, Madison and Mobile along with his Florida robberies. Ernst allegedly robbed a Regions Bank in Hoover, Ala. on Oct. 22.

Police in Hoover have issued a warrant for first-degree robbery. FBI officials said Ernst has robbed each bank using a note in which he demands money and states he has a gun.

Ernst is also wanted for robbing a Wells Fargo bank branch in Orlando that took place around 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 5.

FBI officials said Ernst is wanted for robbing a TD Bank in Lakeland on Oct. 12 where he fled in driving a stolen gray Ford F-150.

Ernst, who was most recently living in North Charleston, S.C., began probation on August 10, 2018 after getting out of federal prison. He had been serving an 11 year and 5-month sentence that was handed down Sept. 10, 2008, in U.S. District Court in South Carolina by Judge P. Michael Duffy. The sentence was to be followed by three years of supervised probation. Duffy also ordered Ernst to pay $11,000 in restitution at the time of sentencing. Ernst pleaded guilty to six counts of bank robbery.

According to documents filed in South Carolina federal court on Sept. 26, 2018, Ernst’s probation officer went to his residence at an Inn Towne Suites short-stay motel where he lived. He worked at Origin Point Brands, a lawn equipment manufacturing company in Summerville, S.C. On Sept. 26, authorities were alerted at 10:17 a.m. that Ernst had tampered with his probation tracking device.

Under terms of his probation, Ernst was only allowed to leave his residence between 4:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. “for the purposes of employment.”

“All attempts to contact the offender went unanswered,” states the federal warrant signed by LaSheika S. VanDyke, a U.S. probation officer. “A home visit was subsequently conducted on this same date. Front desk staff at Inn Town Suites provided the probation officer with the offender’s severed transmitter, which they located in the elevator.”

According to the federal warrant, VanDyke said Ernst’s supervisor confirmed Ernst walked off his job on Sept. 21 “and has been terminated.” Ernst apparently began his latest bank-robbing spree shortly after leaving his job.

The FBI describes Ernst as a white male who weighs between 145 and 170 pounds and is between 5-feet, 5-inches and 5-feet, 7-inches tall. They also said Ernst has a scar on his right forearm and his hair is what’s commonly referred to as “salt and pepper” in color. Anyone with information regarding Ernst’s whereabouts is asked to contact the nearest FBI Field Office, U.S. Embassy or Consulate.