Police: DNA links man to March bank robbery

JACKSON, Tenn. — Investigators have now charged a man in a March bank robbery after police say DNA linked him to the crime.

James Kirkpatrick

James O. Kirkpatrick is accused of robbing First Tennessee Bank on North Highland Avenue on March 4.

According to court documents, a teller told police a man held up a handwritten note on a piece of cardboard that read “Robbery give me 20’s 50’s 100’s.”

The man took the money from the teller and left the bank.

Witnesses described the suspect as a white man in his 40s standing around six feet two inches tall and weighing over 250 pounds.

They told police he was wearing a plaid shirt and a red toboggan with a ball on top, a blue emblem and ear flaps with strings. Surveillance video matched the witnesses’ description.

An officer found a toboggan matching the description on nearby Bon Air Circle.

Investigators sent the toboggan to the FBI lab for analysis. DNA from the toboggan was entered into a database. Lab results showed the DNA matched the DNA profile for Kirkpatrick, according to an affidavit.

Police say Kirkpatrick’s physical description also matches the description provided by witnesses.