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Chad Jeter Guilty Of Robbing Atmore Bank

An Atmore bank robbery suspect has pleaded guilty to all charges against him in federal court.

Chad Floyd Jeter entered the plea and was found guilty on charges of bank robbery with a weapon and use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime in violence in connection with the May 19, 2009, armed robbery of the First National Bank & Trust in downtown Atmore. Tuesday, Chief United States District Judge William H. Steele set Jeter’s sentencing for September 13.

In May 2010, a government psychiatric evaluation determined Jeter was paranoid schizophrenic and not competent to stand trial. He was admitted to the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina for treatment and evaluation, with the examination determining that he was once again competent to stand trial.

An independent psychiatric exam was then arranged by Jeter’s attorney in February. In April, Steele ruled that Jeter was competent to stand trail.

Jeter allegedly robbed the Atmore bank using a .22 caliber rifle, taking about $6,289. He was arrested a few days after the robbery after a manhunt in Levy County, Florida, following an attack on a Levy County officer with a “ninja throwing star”. Levy County authorities dropped an attempted murder of police officer charge against Jeter after a psychological evaluation there found him to be incompetent to stand trial.

Jeter reportedly drove up to the downtown Atmore bank in a white pickup with a camper shell and entered the bank dressed in a dark colored trench coat and the rifle. He ordered bank employees to fill a U.S. Army backpack with cash, while he stood with the rifle pointed at the floor. He reportedly threatened a teller with the rifle during the crime.

Within a few hours of the robbery, investigators identified Jeter as their suspect. Officials searched his trailer on Highway 31 near Canoe. Inside, they found troubling evidence that Jeter might be planning to attack a military base. He said in letters and notes that he was being watched by helicopters that circled his home. Police found maps with the locations of several military bases circled, including Pensacola NAS, Eglin Air Force Base, Whiting Field and Alabama’s Ft. Rucker. The notes indicated that he planned to kill military personnel and police. Military bases were alerted to the possible threat.

Jeter’s burned-out camper shell was found in the woods after the McDavid Station of Escambia Fire Rescue responded to a brush fire on a secluded section of Pine Barren Road near Breastworks Road early on the morning after the robbery.

While on routine patrol at 4:15 Eastern time two days after the robbery, an Inglis (Fla.) Police Department officer, Tim Swigget, located a blue GMC pickup trucked parked backed into a wooded area near a Yankeetown, Florida, neighborhood. Inside the vehicle that was nearly 400 miles from Atmore, he found Jeter sleeping. After the officer determined that Jeter is wanted for the bank robbery, Jeter attacked the officer with a Ninja star.

A manhunt involving several agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard followed after Jeter fled the scene. Jeter was taken into custody in a swampy area and transported to the Levy County Jail.

Pictured top: Jeter after being taken into custody  in Levy County, Florida. Pictured top inset: Chad Floyd Jeter’s booking photo taken mid-January at the Baldwin County Corrections Center. Pictured middle inset: Jeter’s truck at the First National Bank & Trust in Atmore. Pictured lower inset: Surveillance video of the bank robbery in progress. Pictured bottom: Jeter’s truck is searched after he was found in Levy County, Florida. NorthEscambia.com files photos, click to enlarge.