Man charged in robbery of State Credit Union leads officers to money

January 15, 2006

By GREG DEAL
Index-Journal managing editor

Officers with the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office look over evidence recovered Saturday that is connected to Friday’s robbery at State Credit Union on Montague Avenue in Greenwood. From left are: Lt. Marc Cromer, investigator Kenny Downing, investigator Brandon Strickland, Capt. John Murray, holding a .380-caliber handgun, and investigator Jeff Graham, counting the money recovered.

A man charged in the robbery of a local credit union said he had an alibi.
But local lawmen weren’t buying it.
Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office investigators “dismantled” that alibi a little more than 24 hours after Friday’s robbery of the State Credit Union on Montague Avenue in Greenwood, and their interrogations resulted in the suspect leading them to a bag of money, clothing used for a disguise and a handgun.
Saturday night, Lennell Dyches, who is charged in the robbery, led investigators to a wooded area near Merrywood Elementary School, where they collected a satchel. It contained an unspecified amount of cash, a fully loaded .380-caliber handgun, bright-colored clothing identified as being worn during the robbery, a denim and lace hat and a multi-colored scarf that was used to cover the face, authorities said.
“Our investigators have worked this case literally nonstop since the robbery,” Sheriff Dan Wideman said. “We knew we had our guy right away, but these guys built a fantastic case in 24 hours.”
Officers never slept during the 24-hour investigative process.
Sheriff’s office officials said Dyches, of Spartanburg, initially confessed to the robbery Friday, but then he recanted. Dyches was taken to Greenville for a polygraph.
Capt. John Murray said he couldn’t comment on the test results, but investigators also traveled to Spartanburg to interview people about the case.
After further investigation, officers located what they say was the intended getaway car — a late-model Chevrolet Camaro — in a restaurant/nightclub parking lot near State Credit Union.
Inside was another bag that contained “tools,” investigators said.
“We finally had so much evidence against him, Dyches’ really had no choice but to take us to that gun,” Murray said. The money will be returned to the credit union “sometime within a week or so,” investigators said. They think the recovered cash represents the entire amount stolen Friday and that no other suspects were involved in the crime. “I’m so proud of the effort our deputies put into this case. It’s this level of commitment that solves cases and keeps this county safe,” Wideman said.
Dyches remains in custody at the Greenwood County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing that is expected to take place today.
The initial call about the robbery came in to dispatch at 1:30 p.m. Friday. A man in a disguise had robbed the credit union at gunpoint and fled with a satchel full of money. But, at the time, officers didn’t know whether the robber was still inside.
Sheriff’s deputies and law officers from the city converged on the credit union and, after making an attempt to contact people inside the financial institution by using a bullhorn, they entered and cleared three employees, who were unharmed, from the building and determined the robber was no longer inside.
Soon after, attentive Dairy Queen store Manager Claudia Harrison noticed a “suspicious” man inside the restaurant. She said the man got a glass of water and sat a booth, staring up Birchtree Drive. The restaurant is at the corner of Birchtree and the S.C. 72 Bypass. The credit union is about a half-mile up the road at the corner of Birchtree and Montague Avenue.
Harrison said the man wanted employees to “go up and see what was going on.”
The man then asked for an application, Harrison said, but seemed too nervous to fill it out and kept pacing the floor and went into the bathroom.
The man left the restaurant, and Harrison went into the bathroom and found some clothing stuffed under a sink.
The man was then located in a nearby restaurant parking lot, among a small crowd, and was detained and taken away in a sheriff’s office truck.
But investigators weren’t satisfied. Before beginning their trek to Greenville and Spartanburg for information gathering, they brought in the Bloodhound Tracking Team and bloodhound “Jo” to do a “confirmation trail” search. Jo located a “last known location” scent behind the credit union and led the tracking team along a frantic path — one possibly taken by the robber — that went by several dumpsters and into three restaurant parking lots, and eventually to a back door at the Dairy Queen.
The trail helped investigators confirm the suspected path taken by the person they had detained. Bloodhound trainer Chris Hammett said this sometimes helps in court or in evidence gathering.
Before Dyche confessed to the robbery on Saturday, officials say he offered alibis that didn’t sit well with investigators. But the trump card was the Camaro. When Dyche was confronted with that and other information, he confessed to the crime, officers said.
Wideman said detectives “dismantled Dyche’s alibi piece by piece.”

Some information from this article came from a sheriff’s office press release and from Friday’s report by Index-Journal editors and writers.

Rev. W. H. McCain

TRENTON — The Rev. W.H. McCain, 92, of 59 Winding Road, died Saturday, Jan. 14, 2006 at University Hospital.
He was the former pastor of Mount Moriah Baptist Church, Plum Branch, Springfield Baptist Church, Edgefield and Bethlehem Baptist Church of Edgefield and North Augusta.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by G.L. Brightharp & Sons Mortuary, North Augusta.

Observations ...
... and other reflections

January 15, 2006

Give South Carolina U. S. Senator Lindsey Graham a round of applause for putting some sense back into the verbal execution that goes under the name of Judiciary Committee “hearings.”
The assassination of Judge Samuel Alito’s character by Senators Edward Kennedy, Dick Durbin, Joe Biden and others was an insult to the Alito family, certainly. Moreover, it was an insult to all Americans.
Alito, of course, was nominated for the U. S. Supreme Court by President Bush. The attacks got so vicious, the judge’s wife left the room in tears.
When Graham took the floor, he “leveled the field” with his support of the nominee. Graham’s always a gentleman. That’s obvious. It’s just as obvious that the others are out of his league. They show it ….. often.

* * * * *

The hearings are supposed to be part of the advise and consent role the Senate plays. What they turn out to be is a witch hunt ….. or worse.* * * * * They also appear to be a waste of time for everyone involved ….. and a waste of taxpayers’ money. There hardly seems any doubt that the Judiciary Committee members already have their minds made up before hearings ever get started.
If pertinent questions were asked, the hearings might be useful. When they are nothing but a “shooting gallery” for the opposition, you have to wonder if they haven’t outlived their usefulness.

* * * * *

In spite of the noise Senator Kennedy always makes, it gets downright ridiculous sometimes ….. especially when the subject turns to ethics and honor and such.
Why? Does the name “Chappaquiddick” ring a bell?
It’s kind of hard to get it out of mind when the senator starts to pontificate ….. as he seems to do always.

* * * * *

One of the reasons Kennedy and his Democratic peers have been so hard on all the president’s court nominees is not difficult to understand. It’s simple. They hate George Bush.
They still believe that he didn’t win his presidential campaign against Al Gore, even though the evidence is clear otherwise.