CMPD identifies, charges alleged bank robber who led police chase down I-85

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The ramp from Interstate 85 southbound to Billy Graham Parkway in west Charlotte was shut down Tuesday after police swarmed an SUV and took a suspected bank robber into custody.

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Department of Transportation cameras along I-85 captured what appeared to be several Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department cruisers following a white vehicle around noon.

I-85 DOT camera (Department of Transportation)

Shortly after, Chopper 9 Skyzoom flew over the scene, where police had surrounded the white SUV and had taken a man into custody.

The man, who police later said was 58-year-old Alvin James Pierce, was sitting on a stretcher before being loaded into an ambulance.

[IMAGES: Suspected bank robber arrested in west Charlotte]

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Police told Channel 9 the incident involved a bank robbery suspect.

The robbery happened earlier Tuesday morning at the Fifth Third Bank along Oakdale Road in northwest Charlotte and Pierce reportedly threatened a teller and said he had a gun.

Witnesses said the suspect left in a white Nissan Rogue.

Detectives in the Real Time Crime Center located the SUV and the CMPD helicopter launched.

Officers on the ground tried to pull Pierce over but he didn’t stop, and a pursuit began.

Pierce’s SUV traveled down I-85 and exited onto Billy Graham Parkway. The Rogue stopped and Pierce was arrested without further incident, CMPD said.

Channel 9′s Gaston County reporter Ken Lemon was at the crime scene and saw an investigator dusting for fingerprints on the front door of the bank and several police cars surrounding the building.

Police said no one was hurt and no vehicles were damaged during the chase. Authorities are not looking for any more suspects.

Pierce was charged with armed robbery with a dangerous weapon.