Erika Fox
Reporter
March 17, 2006
When an armed man robbed the Pinecrest Branch of Carter
County Bank on Wednesday, March 1, bank teller and Hart Hall Resident Director
Shelby Banion experienced the terror first-hand.
“It was surreal,” Banion said. “It was seriously like watching a movie.”
The robber, David Daniel Clark, 29, of Elizabethton entered the bank at 1:30
that afternoon dressed in camouflage and armed with a .40-caliber pistol.
Only two tellers were at their desks at the time of the robbery and the bank was
empty of customers. Banion, the drive-up window teller, had moved to a seat next
to one of the two tellers because her seat by the window was too cold.
The teller closest to the door, Pam Bailey, did not notice Clark when he walked
in.
Further down, another teller looked up, making eye contact with Clark.
Immediately, Clark rushed to him and placed a mesh bag on the counter, slamming
his pistol on top of the bag. Clark demanded that the teller empty the drawer.
The teller cooperated.
“(The teller’s) face turned white,” Banion said. “He kept his cool, but the
color just drained from his face.”
Clark then bypassed Banion and moved to Bailey’s cubicle.
“From where I was sitting, I don’t think he knew I was at a station, so he only
got two,” Banion said.
As Bailey reached for the drawer, Clark thought she was reaching for the phone,
so he fired one shot into the ceiling that “went straight through the roof,”
Banion said.
Bailey emptied the cash from her drawer.
“We did the right thing,” Banion said. “You want to get him out as soon as
possible. The money is insured.”
Clark turned to the vault, where a Fleenor Security employee, Larry Taylor,
stood. Taylor, hearing the commotion, came out to see what he thought was a joke
being played. Clark pointed his gun at Larry and then fled from the building in
a white Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck.
Several of the bank workers immediately identified Clark as the son of a
long-time customer. In fact, Clark had been in the bank before.
Reflecting on the outcome of the situation, Banion said, “It was in the favor of
the Lord, if you let your mind wander and think of all the things that could’ve
happened.”
Clark was later shot and killed by a Unicoi County police officer while avoiding
arrest.
The amount of money stolen from the bank is not available.