Three men wanted in connection with a downtown bank robbery reportedly led police on a chase through Wilmington before crashing on Eastwood Road on Monday morning.
Police responded to a report of a robbery at Bank of America, 319 N. Third St., at 9:17 a.m. Monday, according to Wilmington Police Department Spokeswoman Cathryn Lindsay.
Two men reportedly entered the bank and demanded money at knife-point, Lindsay said. The men left the bank with an unknown amount of money and fled in a Toyota driven by a third suspect. Police pursued the suspects in a “high-speed chase” for about six minutes, when the suspects’ vehicle wrecked near the intersection of Eastwood Road and Wrightsville Avenue, Lindsay said.
“The suspect vehicle side-swiped a vehicle that was turning into the intersection at Wrightsville Avenue and Eastwood Road,” Lindsay said. “The suspect vehicle then collided with a different vehicle head-on, which caused a chain reaction of vehicle accidents.”
Five vehicles, including the suspects’ vehicle, were involved in the wreck. Eastwood Road–from Canal Street to the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge–was closed to traffic for about two hours, Lindsay said. The road reopened to traffic at noon.
Jimmy Cox, 23, Brenton Donnell Jenkins, 18, and Darrick Lee Jones, 42, were arrested Monday afternoon after they were treated at the hospital for injuries that were not considered life-threatening, Lindsay said.
Cox, Jenkins and Jones, all of Washington D.C., have been charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping, Lindsay said. Additional charges may be pending.
Cox and Jenkins were booked at the New Hanover County jail under $1 million secured bonds. Jail records for Jones were not immediately available.
Check back for more details on this developing story.
