Teller IDs suspect as bank robber

Adam Carson remains jailed after the court refused to set bond.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Bank robbery suspect Adam Carson sat motionless as a teller identified him Tuesday as the man she handed more than $4,000 to July 7.
As the result of identification by Pam McKinney, a teller at First Place Bank in the Elm Road Plaza, the 24-year-old Carson was bound over to the Trumbull County grand jury on a charge of robbery.
Carson, son of Trumbull County Administrator Tony Carson, remains in the county jail. Acting Judge Daniel Nelson Gerin of municipal court ordered him to be held without bond after Traci Timko-Rose, an assistant city prosecutor, pointed out that Carson is a probation violator and flight risk.
During questioning by Timko-Rose at Carson's preliminary hearing, McKinney testified that a man wearing a cap and sunglasses walked into the bank shortly before 6 p.m. and handed her a note.
She told the court that the note said the man had a gun and to give her the money -- large bills first.
McKinney pointed to Carson when asked if she could identify the robber. She told the court that she also picked Carson's photograph out of an array of six photographs shown her by Warren police Detective Jeffrey Hoolihan.
Cross-examination
During cross-examination, court-appointed defense lawyer Salvatore Arbie tried to discredit the 39-year-old teller's recollection.
McKinney could not recall the color of the robber's hat or hair and couldn't describe the sunglasses.
However, when shown the photo array, she picked Carson's picture and said he was the robber.
Following her training as a teller, McKinney testified that she grabbed "bait money," marked money that when moved sets off an alarm.
She didn't give the robber the bait, but gave him a 6-inch stack of money worth more than $4,000.
"I just wanted him to get out," the teller told the court.
The robber put the money under his shirt and walked out of the bank.
Carson was originally identified by his mother, Darlene Lipscomb of Champion, after she saw the robber's photo taken by a bank surveillance camera shown in the press.
Carson was taken into custody July 11 while at a friend's Leavittsburg house. Carson's girlfriend was with him. Neither the friend nor girlfriend was charged.
yovich@vindy.com