BGPD arrests man suspected in bank robbery

Published 5:15 pm Wednesday, November 20, 2024

City police investigating a recent bank robbery have charged a suspect.

James Ray Taylor, 43, of Bowling Green, was charged Tuesday with second-degree robbery in connection with the Nov. 12 incident at American Bank and Trust, 1115 Fairview Ave.

According to an arrest citation, a man entered the bank around 9:15 a.m. on Nov. 12 and produced a note indicating that this was a robbery.

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The note included a demand for cash and additional instructions to the bank teller that were left unspecified in the arrest citation.

The Bowling Green Police Department developed Taylor as a suspect in the robbery and officers went Monday afternoon to a residence in the 600 block of Fairdale Avenue, where they found a man sitting in a car backed into the driveway.

Two BGPD detectives made contact with the man, who they later identified as Taylor.

According to an arrest citation, Taylor said he was visiting someone at the address that he had helped out by building a ramp, but police noted Taylor appeared nervous when officers asked him for identification.

Taylor provided his name and birthdate to officers.

“Based on the recent incident, the proximity of this residence to that crime, other details related to that investigation and Taylor’s deceptive behavior he was detained,” BGPD Detective David Grimsley stated in an arrest citation.

Police learned that Taylor was subject to an arrest warrant from Colorado and detained him, in the process finding suspected fentanyl in his car along with items used to smoke the drug, records show.

Taylor was arrested Monday on charges of first-degree possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and the second-degree robbery charge was added Tuesday.

Taylor was due to appear Wednesday in Warren District Court to be arraigned on all charges.

Court records indicate that a public defender was appointed to represent Taylor, who will return Friday to appear before Warren District Judge John Brown for a preliminary hearing.

Warren County Regional Jail records indicate he is lodged there under a $6,000 cash bond.