Local detective lauded for break in case

A 46-year-old Riverdale man has been arrested by federal officials for the Aug. 15 armed robbery of the South Crest Bank in Fayetteville, police said.

Willie George Ward was arrested Tuesday night after Fayetteville Det. Scott Gibson, working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, followed up a small lead that led to finding Ward at a location where police had thought he was staying, said Police Lt. Beverly Trainor.

Fayetteville Police Chief Steve Heaton lauded Gibson’s “solid detective work” and tenacity for helping crack the case.

Ward was arrested Tuesday around 7 p.m. at an apartment complex near Garden Walk Boulevard off Ga. Highway 85 in Riverdale, police said.

The robbery was caught on video, with the assailant drawing a gun upon entering the bank and firing one shot almost immediately; no one was hurt, police said.

The video showed the robber aggressively pointing the gun at the teller as she filled a yellow plastic bag with the cash. He wore a black University of Georgia “G” hat and sunglasses along with a white glove on his right hand. He brandished the gun with his left hand.

Police said the robber dropped some of the money in the wooded area behind the bank before he got away.