Suspected serial bank robber caught in Missouri
A man suspected of committing bank robberies in five states, including North Carolina, was captured in mid-Missouri Saturday after a retired state trooper recognized him from the television show "America's Most Wanted."
Posted — UpdatedThe Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a news release Sunday that Chad E. Schaffner, 37, of Indianapolis, was arrested at a motel in the small town of Kingdom City, about 25 miles east of Columbia. The release said Schaffner was taken into custody without resistance.
Schaffner was wanted on felony warrants for bank robbery, burglary, armed robbery and receiving stolen property. He also is a suspect in bank robberies in Illinois, Kentucky, North and South Carolina and Tennessee. Some of those robberies occurred in Fayetteville, Hendersonville, Edenton and Fletcher.
Schaffner was named a suspect in the robberies after bank surveillance photos from holdups dating to May were flashed on electronic billboards across the South.
According to an FBI arrest warrant, Schaffner was released from an Indiana prison in December 2008 after serving 6 months time for armed robbery.
Schaffner has spent more than 14 of the past 18 years behind bars, according to Indiana Department of Correction records. In addition to armed robbery, he has been convicted of burglary and escaping from custody.
Copyright 2024 by WRAL.com and the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
