By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
Salisbury police have made an arrest in a 2004 bank robbery.
Michael Eugene Long, 31, of 375 Ted Lane, Salisbury, was charged Thursday in the June 23, 2004, robbery of a CCB branch. The bank is located off Statesville Boulevard in The Marketplace shopping center.
Long was being held Friday in the Rowan County Detention Center without bond. He was awaiting pick-up by federal marshals and transfer to a federal jail.
The robbery of a bank is a federal offense and the FBI heads the investigation in such cases. Bank money is insured by the federal government.
Rory Collins, deputy chief of services for the Salisbury Police Department, said Friday he knew little about details preceding Long’s arrest, and said it’d be next week before more details are available.
“I’m not sure what came together to lead to his arrest,” Collins said.
According to an arrest report filed by Salisbury police, Salisbury officers arrested Long at his home after the FBI issued warrants charging him with robbery with firearms or other dangerous weapons.
Long was arrested without incident at his home.
At the time of the CCB robbery, police said a man walked into the bank wearing a ski mask, camouflage cargo pants and a dirty brown or yellow shirt.
Toting a white baseball cap in his back pocket and a pistol in his hand, he demanded cash, then jumped over the counter and grabbed it himself. About four employees were inside the bank.
The man waved his gun at the tellers, jumped back across the counter and took off out the door. As he walked out, he pulled off the camouflaged ski mask and put the white ball cap on.
A short time later, officers found the ski mask inside a large trash container beside the shopping center. Police swarmed the area and canvassed the land between the bank and Enon Church and Woodleaf roads.
The N.C. Highway Patrol provided a helicopter for assistance in the search. Police said they didn’t know if the robber used a getaway car.
At the time of the robbery, police described the bandit as a white man in his early 20s who stood between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-8.