Full Notification

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION
JACKSON POLICE DEPARTMENT
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
JOINT PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: August 1, 2014
BY: Chief Gill Kendrick
Eric McCraw

Police POC: JPD Capt. Tyreece Miller 731-425-8676 [email protected]

Joint Investigation by Police and FBI Leads to Charges and the Arrest of a Serial Bank Robber from Chicago for a Tuesday Bank Robbery in Jackson

A joint investigation by the Jackson Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has led to charges and the arrest of a serial bank robber, from Chicago, within 48 hours of a bank robbery earlier this week in Jackson.

At 12:32 p.m. Tuesday, police were called about a bank robbery at BancorpSouth, located at 1411 North Highland Avenue. Officers, police investigators and FBI agents responded.

A man entered the bank posing as a customer. The suspect then displayed a gun and substantially interfered with the liberty of two bank employees during the commission of an armed robbery. The suspect left the bank and got into the passenger's side of a gray 2000 Volvo, which fled the scene.

During the ongoing investigation, Jackson police and FBI agents in Jackson and Chicago developed information to indicate the identity of the bank robber as, Jeffrey Rice, Jr., 31, of Chicago.

Investigators secured a state warrant charging Rice with aggravated robbery and two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, and agents obtained a federal criminal complaint charging Rice with bank robbery.

Rice was arrested Thursday morning by FBI agents in Chicago. Rice will be extradited back to Jackson as soon as possible to face charges in both state and federal court in Jackson.

Since September 2013, Rice is alleged to have robbed three banks and attempted to rob another in Illinois, Iowa, Ohio and Tennessee.

Rice’s identity had been unknown prior to the Jackson bank robbery. As a result of not only the investigation in Jackson, but also the work of agents, investigators and officers across multiple jurisdictions, Rice will now be held accountable for every robbery.

“The success of this investigation and arrest was a direct result of the hard work and cooperative efforts of the Jackson Police Department, FBI Chicago and FBI Memphis,” said Eric McCraw, Supervisory Senior Resident Agent of the FBI Jackson Resident Agency. “The FBI will continue to combat violent crime in the Jackson area through our strong partnership with the Jackson Police Department and our common goal to ensure the safety of our community.”

The investigation is ongoing to discover the identity of the getaway driver. The individual's race was black and the gender could not be determined. He or she was described as having a petite build and a braided hairstyle with colored beads on the end of the braids.

Investigators and agents are also attempting to determine what, if any, connection Rice has to Jackson.

Anyone with information can contact the Jackson Police Department's Major Crimes Bureau at 731-425-8400 or Crime Stoppers at 731-424-8477 (TIPS). Submit a cyber tip at jmcrimestoppers.org and click on “web tips”. Callers can also contact the FBI's Jackson office at 731-668-9578. The FBI's Memphis office is available 24 hours at 901-747-4300.

An arrest is merely an accusation and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at trial, at which the government must bear the burden of proof.


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