BENSON POLICE DEPARTMENT
303 EAST CHURCH STREET
BENSON, NC 27504
TELEPHONE 919-894-3616 FAX 919-207-1993
- - -PRESS RELEASE- - -
February 21, 2006
On January 17, 2006, a robbery occurred at the BB&T Bank located in Benson. An unknown White Female entered the bank and passed the teller a note demanding $3000. Once she received the money, the female left the bank on foot, and fled the area. Over several weeks, numerous interviews were conducted, and several searches performed, but the suspect remained unidentified. Since that initial robbery, the suspect was also identified as participating in bank robberies in Wilmington NC, Dunn NC, Roanoke VA, and Chesterfield County VA.
On 2-14-2006, the Chesterfield County, VA Police Department contacted our department, to advise us of the robberies that had been committed in their state. With assistance from the NC State Bureau of Investigation, the multi-state, multi-agency investigation continued. It was subsequently learned that the suspect, identified as Marion Louise Barringer (DOB 6-15-1955), was also suspected of robbing 10 or more banks in the New England states over the past year.
Once a photo of Barringer was obtained, her information and photograph were provided to the Dunn Police Department, and also the Wilmington Police Department. These agencies were then able to positively identify Barringer as the suspect who committed the robberies in their jurisdictions, and obtain warrants for her arrest. Warrants were also obtained by the Virginia agencies. We attempted to obtain a positive identification from the witness to our robbery, but she was out of state and unavailable.
On 2-16-2006, the suspect and an accomplice were located and arrested in Nashville, Tennessee. She and the accomplice, identified as Patrick Mackey (DOB 4-18-1964) have subsequently confessed to the three North Carolina robberies, to the two Virginia robberies, and to others in the New England states. On 2-21-2006, Lt. Randy Beasley obtained warrants for Marion Barringer and Patrick Mackey, charging them with one count of Common Law Robbery, and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Common Law Robbery. The warrants will be held, pending the possible extradition of Barringer and Mackey to North Carolina. However, it is more likely that all state charges will be combined into a Federal charge, if and when the Federal Bureau of Investigation adopts the cases.
Chief Kenneth Edwards would like to thank the members of the public who provided information and leads about the robbery. "My investigators received a great deal of information from the public," said Chief Edwards, "and we hope they will continue to assist us in the future." "I also appreciate the assistance we received from the news media," said Edwards. "They helped us a great deal by publicizing this incident."
Chief Edwards would also like to recognize the law enforcement agencies who actively participated, or assisted with the investigation:
Chesterfield County, Virginia Police Department
Dunn Police Department
Erwin Police Department
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Nashville, Tennessee Police Department
NC Probation and Parole
NC State Bureau of Investigation
Roanoke, Virginia Police Department
Wilmington Police Department
For additional information, please contact Chief Kenneth Edwards at 919-894-2091. Photos of the suspects are available, upon request.