Bank Robbery Suspect Arrested After High-Speed Chase

Black Mountain -- June 3, 2023: Black Mountain Police Department officers responded to a warrant notification sent automatically by recently installed license plate readers on June 1, 2023.

A Shots fired report came in at about the same time as the LPR notification by Buncombe County Public Safety Communications.

The car was identified by officers in the LPR notification. the driver released two passengers as the police started a traffic stop. The driver, 53-year-old Concord resident Kelvin Wayne Simmons, is wanted for a number of bank robberies that happened throughout the state. According to the information obtained, Simmons had been calling dispatch centers and reporting gunfire before starting the bank robberies. Officers believe he was getting ready to rob a bank in Black Mountain. 

On the I-40, Simmons took police on a chase that reached speeds of nearly 115 mph. Simmons entered I-26 the wrong way and crashed while being pursued. After colliding, Simmons got out and tried to carjack a vehicle on the side of the road. Simmons was taken down by bystanders and held there until Black Mountain Police arrived and arrested him.
There are active arrest warrants for Simmons in the counties of Henderson, Mecklenburg, Gaston, Rowan, and Cabarrus. The arrest warrants include a variety of crimes, including attempted common law robbery, robbery with a dangerous weapon, fleeing to avoid arrest, second-degree kidnapping, and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Editor's Note:* A criminal charge is an accusation, by law, a person accused of a crime is innocent until proven in a court of law.

WNCTimes