Authorities Alle Nearly $ 2 Million Stolen From Bank Truck Was Inside Work New

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NORTH CHARLESTON An armored bank truck burglary earlier this year in North Charleston was work indoors that earned thieves nearly $ 2 million, federal officials say in new court documents.

Five men have been charged in South Carolina U.S. District Court with bank robbery and conspiracy to commit bank robbery in the January 16 morning truck theft.

The defendants are Quantavius ​​Popeye Murphy, James Edward Sewell, Anthony D-Trill Burge, Thomas Scoona Calhoun and Terry TT Pollard.

After the robbery, the FBI described the suspects as an armed squad of Folk Nation gang members who emptied the contents of a truck carrying Bank of America funds. A $ 10,000 award has been released for Murphy.

A criminal complaint detailing the allegations remains sealed, but a search warrant affidavit filed on July 7 reveals new details about the theft, including allegations the men fled with $ 1.9 million.

Police officers from North Charleston were dispatched on the morning of January 16 with reports that a GardaWorld armored truck was stolen near an ATM at 5900 Core Road, the affidavit states.

Sewell, the driver of the truck, initially claimed he did not know the thieves, but after detectives confronted him with inconsistencies in his story, the affidavit indicates that he confessed that the theft had been organized.

He claimed in a statement that he plotted the theft with the other defendants through the Snapchat multimedia messaging app, according to the affidavit.

Sewell stopped the truck at the ATM on Core Road, in which case the other four defendants pretended to steal it. To make it look real, Calhoun hit Sewell with a gun before the men loaded $ 1.9 million into a Chevrolet Malibu and fled, the affidavit states.

Sewell said the men were planning to meet again in Cedartown, Georgia, where they all grew up, to share in the benefits.

FBI agents learned that Murphy was seen in Cedartown with his mother two days after the robbery. His mother told authorities her son recently bought a Chevrolet Monte Carlo and gave him a grocery bag full of cash, the affidavit states. He also gave a silver shoebox to a young relative.

Authorities recovered $ 130,000 of the money during a search of property belonging to the Murphys family.

On January 19, Burge was arrested at a gas station in Cedartown. After searching his residence, investigators found silver bands that matched those found with the Murphys family.

The five men were charged on March 16.

Calhoun and Murphy were arrested in Georgia on March 23. Pollard was arrested in a separate state case the week of March 29.

Authorities requested the search warrant to access the men’s Snapchat accounts.

Murphy, Sewell, Burge and Calhoun pleaded not guilty to federal charges on May 10. Pollard is awaiting arraignment in this case.

Join Steve Garrison at 843-607-1052. Follow him on Twitter @SteveGarrisonDT.

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