Authorities Credit Teamwork For Robbery Arrest

PARKER, SD - A 32-year-old Inwood, Iowa, man is facing federal bank robbery charges after investigators say he held up a Centerville bank and then eluded authorities for nearly three hours. 

Investigators say Jeremy Bullock robbed the First Midwest Bank at gun point just after 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

Investigators surrounded the small Turner County town with loaded guns shortly after the robbery, but it was tips from the public that helped authorities track down suspected bank robber Jeremy Bullock.

"Once outside the bank some citizens of Centerville saw an individual fleeing the scene on foot," Turner County Sheriff Byron Nogelmeier said.

Those people told authorities what they saw and the Centerville Police Chief started tracking the suspect by his footprints in the snow. Meanwhile, the Highway Patrol set up a perimeter around Centerville.

"At one of the points on the northwest side of town an individual came in a pick-up and basically went through the check point and the trooper gave chase and then simultaneously we had reports of this pick-up being stolen," Nogelmeier said.

That's when the high-speed chase began and the Highway Patrol called in its plane to help track Bullock. 

"And, the airplane was very instrumental in monitoring and following the pursuit the whole time," Highway Patrol Captain Kevin Joffer said.

The chase ended on Highway 18, nearly 25 miles from Centerville when Bullock stopped the stolen pick-up in the middle of the highway, jumped out and tried to run. He was chased down by a trooper and a Turner County Deputy, and now he sits behind bars facing federal charges after being tracked down by land and air and through the snow.

"It was just a great effort on everybody's part, everybody. It was a good conclusion to a criminal offense that occurred today," Nogelmeier said.

Investigators won't say how much money was stolen, but they did say they have recovered all of the money that was taken from the bank.