Suspected “Limping Bandit” Arrested in Charleston
Georgia Man Accused of 23 Bank Robberies Across Southeast

COLUMBIA, SC—David A. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in South Carolina, announced that Cecil Stephen Haire of Douglas, Georgia, was apprehended last Friday afternoon by the Mount Pleasant Police Department following a bank robbery in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Haire is suspected of being the “Limping Bandit,” responsible for 23 bank robberies across the Southeast dating back to 2006. Haire was arrested on state robbery charges after a witness saw him leave the National Bank of South Carolina (NBSC) in Mount Pleasant, and provided authorities with his license plate number.

Haire is allegedly responsible for bank robberies committed throughout South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Investigators said the robber typically waited in line as a customer before each robbery, and then produced a black handgun from under his shirt as he approached a teller. The Limping Bandit earned his nickname from witness accounts that described the robber as limping while running away from various bank robberies.

The following is a list of the banks Haire is accused of robbing:

South Carolina (12):

• Regions Bank, Summerville, SC—9/11/2007
• First Citizens Bank, Orangeburg, SC—10/09/2007
• National Bank of SC, Mt. Pleasant, SC—10/25/2007
• First Federal, Charleston, SC—10/25/2007
• Security Federal Bank, Aiken, SC—11/20/2007
• BB&T, Sumter, SC—12/27/2007
• Carolina First Bank, Edgefield, SC—1/3/2008
• Bank of America, Orangeburg, SC 4/10/2008
• National Bank of SC, Summerville, SC—9/16/2008
• National Bank of SC, Charleston, SC—4/9/2009
• Regions Bank, Summerville, SC—5/11/2009
• National Bank of SC, Mt. Pleasant, SC—7/17/2009

Alabama (3):

• Colonial Bank, Enterprise, Alabama—3/13/2007
• Colonial Bank, Ozark, Alabama—9/4/2007
• Colonial Bank, Dothan, Alabama—12/19/2007

Georgia (3):

• BB&T, Tifton, Georgia—6/5/2006
• Regions Bank, Cordele, Georgia—6/20/2006
• Southwest Georgia Bank, Moultrie, Georgia—7/17/2006

Florida (5):

• Capital City Bank, Chipley, FL—11/6/2006
• Wachovia Bank, Perry, FL—5/16/2007
• Wachovia Bank, Tallahassee, FL—4/15/2008
• First Federal Bank of Florida, Lake City, FL—6/3/2008
• People’s First Community Bank, Tallahassee, FL—1/2/2009

Cecil Stephen Haire is described as follows:

DOB:               3/26/1958
Race/Sex:         Caucasian/Male
Height:              5’11”
Weight:             235 lbs.
Other:               **Right leg shorter than left due to Polio as a child.
**Apparel for each robbery was a collared shirt, baseball cap, and sunglasses (sometimes placing sunglasses on the bill of his hat). 

The FBI jointly investigated these robberies with Aiken Dept. of Public Safety; Charleston PD; Mount Pleasant PD; Orangeburg PD; Summerville PD; Sumter PD; Lander PD; Tallahassee PD VCU; Lake City, PD; Dothan PD; Perry PD; Enterprise PD; Chipley PD; Moultrie PD; Cordele PD, and Tifton PD. 

David A. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Columbia office of the FBI expresses that the arrest was made possible due to the tireless efforts of the investigators, who have been working on these robberies since 2006.