Alexander County bank robbery suspect arrested in Tennessee

A Hickory man was arrested in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday in connection with a Taylorsville bank robbery, authorities said.

Timothy Michael Sample, 51, was arrested at a hotel without incident, according to the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office.

Last Friday at about 10 a.m., a man wearing a dark ski mask and brandishing a gun robbed the Bethlehem branch of Taylorsville Savings Bank.

He ordered a clerk to stuff the money into a pastel purple fanny pack, the sheriff’s office said, before fleeing the scene in a light gray or silver sedan.

Sheriff Chris Bowman said his office is filing papers for Sample’s extradition but does not know whether Sample will fight the move. He said he sent two detectives to Nashville on Monday.

Nashville is about 370 miles west of Hickory.

This is Alexander County’s first bank robbery in more than a year, Bowman said.

This story was originally published February 24, 2015 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Alexander County bank robbery suspect arrested in Tennessee."