FORT PIERCE — A 22-year-old man accused of robbing a Riverside Bank at gunpoint Wednesday morning was taken into custody about 10 minutes later, police said.

Armed with a silver-colored handgun, Terry B. Delion entered the bank in the 2200 block of Okeechobee Road about 9:05 a.m., police said. He immediately pointed the weapon at the tellers and demanded money, police said.

“One of the employees there pushed a panic alarm indicating that there was a robbery,” Detective David Cuti said. “Many road patrol officers responded to the scene.”

One of the first responding officers arrived at the back of the bank, and a witness pointed to the direction of a fleeing vehicle, Cuti said. The witness described the car and gave a description of the robber.

“No shots were fired and nobody was hurt,” Cuti said.

Police and St. Lucie County Sheriff’s officials quickly worked to apprehend Delion, who bailed out of his car and was caught near Kirby Loop Road and Happiness Street about three miles from the bank, officials said.

Investigators recovered a silver gun, an undisclosed amount of cash from the bank and a bag thought to have been used in the incident.

Cuti said Delion gave a “full confession.”

“He decided to do it (Tuesday) night,” Cuti said. “He just needed the cash.”

A Riverside Bank near Port St. Lucie police headquarters was robbed Monday morning. The suspect in that case may have robbed a bank in Orlando that morning as well as other banks previously.

Delion, whose last known address is in the 3200 block of Florida Avenue in Fort Pierce, was arrested on a charge of felony armed robbery with a firearm.

The Riverside Bank that police say was robbed by Delion is across the street from A & M Discount Beverage, where the 44-year-old owner, Paraj Patel, was fatally shot Sept. 4.

Will Greenlee

Tags: armed, arrest, handgun, panic alarm, Riverside National Bank, robbery

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 10:24 am and is filed under Crime, Economy, Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.