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Suspected bank robber caught in Elizabethtown

June 15, 2006|Mike Moore and Bobbie Curd

After almost three weeks after the robbery of Farmers Bank in the Peddlers Mall Plaza, suspect Ricky Allen Pittman, 38, of Lancaster sits behind bars after being taken into custody last Thursday morning in Elizabethtown.

Along with the charges he faces in Nicholasville, Pittman was also wanted in connection with the May 18 robbery of Whitaker Bank in Lancaster and the May 24 robbery of Fort Knox Federal Credit Union in Danville.

Nicholasville police chief Barry Waldrop said Pittman would most likely be brought back to one of the areas in which a robbery occurred, but as of Friday morning he

wasn't sure which area would lodge Pittman.

Pittman was arraigned by video in Garrard County District Court.

If convicted, Pittman faces three counts of first-degree robbery, Class B felonies carrying a 10-20 year prison sentence each.

Due to the nature of the crime, Waldrop said the case could go federal if the FBI chooses to take it over.

Prior to last Thursday's arrest, his family urged Pittman to turn himself in, according to WLEX 18's Web site.

Kentucky State Police detectives Monte Owens and Mark Young had been involved in a lengthy investigation into Pittman's whereabouts relating to the robberies.

Steve Pavey, public information officer for the KSP Elizabethtown post, said Pittman was traveling on Bluegrass Parkway and was stopped about one mile east of Elizabethtown.

"He was being followed by detectives in a plain car, who let us know that he was in the area," Pavey said.

Units from KSP Post 4, Elizabethtown Police Department, the Hardin County Drug Task Force and KSP Drug Enforcement West, units assisted in Pittman's arrest.

He is being lodged in the Lincoln County Jail, according to a jail spokesperson.

Editor's note: Bobbie Curd is a staff writer with The Advocate-Messenger in Danville.

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