By Jim CoxSA Publisher

A Frisco City bank robber who was shot and killed there Tuesday afternoon was from Coffeeville.

A Clarke County sheriff’s deputy identified the man who was fatally wounded by the Frisco City police chief as Wallace Jackson, 51. Two other men were also involved.

A suspect was taken into custody in Coffeeville by Clarke County lawmen late Tuesday night and transferred to the Monroe County Jail. The individual, who was not named because he has not been formally charged, reportedly shared a residence on Highway 69 South with Jackson.

The third suspect is still being sought.

The getaway vehicle used in the holdup, a rental Ford Escort, was stolen from Action Autos in Grove Hill. It was found abandoned a short distance from the bank.

The robbery happened at The Bank of Frisco City about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday when two masked gunmen entered the bank and demanded money. They took the security videotape and bound the tellers with duct tape.

The tellers somehow tripped the alarm, summoning Police Chief James Maples.

A bank courier apparently arrived and disrupted the robbery as it was in process.

One of the robbers ran to the getaway car and sped away but only went a short distance before abandoning the vehicle.

Several minutes later, a woman at the Dollar General store next door thought the robbery was all over and went to the bank but was confronted at the door by one of the masked gunman. She fled back toward the store with him behind her, either in pursuit or fleeing himself.

About that time Chief Maples apparently stepped in. Maples and Jackson exchanged gunfire and Jackson was shot in the abdomen. He collapsed and died at a local hospital soon afterwards.

Clarke County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Vergil Chapman, who knew Wallace, positively identified the body. Chapman and others said that he had recently been jailed for bad checks.

Tracking dogs followed a trail from the abandoned getaway car to a sporting goods store not far away on Alabama Highway 21. Two men were reported fleeing north from there in a brown Chevrolet pickup about the time officers responded to the robbery.

The brown pickup and another vehicle were impounded by lawmen at the Coffeeville residence Tuesday night.

Around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning Jackson Police Sgt. Dexter Hunt found a Dodge automobile belonging to Jackson behind the Econ convenience store there. Deputy Maurice Dyess assisted in securing the vehicle.

Jackson was a truck driver who once worked for Powell Trucking of Grove Hill. He was convicted of stealing diesel fuel from Powell while employed there. The charge was initially a felony but was reportedly reduced to a misdemeanor.

District Attorney Bobby Keahey said he remembered the case and the individual. "He had a dangerous air about him," Keahey recalled.

Investigators suggested that other unsolved small town bank robberies might be cleared up if arrests can be made in this case. These include robberies in Leroy, Sweet Water and Repton. Almost all involved cars that were stolen from Clarke County dealerships.

Lawmen are still searching for one suspect. The undisclosed amount of cash that was stolen from the bank is also still missing.

Clarke County lawmen are continuing to work with Monroe County authorities and state and federal agents on the case.