Boyd William Rowe
RIDGEWAY – A Winnsboro man was arrested late Friday afternoon at his home on Sandifer Road and charged with the May 8 robbery of the First Citizen’s Bank in Ridgeway.
The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office said Boyd William Rowe, 52, was arrested without incident after investigators executed a search warrant on Rowe’s home where several hundred dollars in cash was found hidden in the back yard.
Rowe is believed to be the man who walked unarmed into the First Citizen’s Bank just after 3 p.m. on May 8 and demanded money from the teller on duty. Rowe allegedly told the teller that he didn’t want any “funny money,” indicating a bag of money containing a dye pack. After the teller had handed over $934 from the bank drawer, the suspect now identified by investigators as Rowe ran out of the bank, across the street and into the alley behind Laura’s Tea Room. Witnesses reported that the suspect got into a small white pickup truck and headed south down Highway 21.
It was a bit of inspiration that first pegged Rowe as a lead suspect in the case. Chief Deputy Keith Lewis said he knew Rowe had recently moved back into the area and he knew Rowe had a list of priors.
“I thought about him while I was lying in bed Thursday night,” Lewis said. “I remembered him and I wondered what he was up to, so we decided to check him out.”
Surveillance video was a start. Although the bank robber covered his face while inside the bank, video of him crossing the street – while not perfect – indicated enough of a resemblance to Rowe for investigators to look closer into his whereabouts on May 8. Investigators then learned that Rowe’s neighbor owned a small white pickup truck – a 1982 Dodge – that he often loaned out to Rowe, and at the time of the robbery, Rowe had indeed been in possession of his neighbor’s truck.
Lewis said investigators met with Rowe, who provided alibis for his whereabouts during the time of the robbery. After all of his alibis fell through, Lewis said the Sheriff’s Office obtained and executed a search warrant on Rowe’s home at 234 Sandifer Road. Investigators recovered what they described as “several items of evidence” inside the home. In the back yard, hidden inside a trash can, officers found between $300 and $400, believed to have been stolen from First Citizen’s Bank.
Rowe has lived at the Sandifer Road home since June of 2013. His list of convictions date back to 1980, when he was first picked up in Winnsboro for grand larceny. In 1985, Rowe was charged with housebreaking in Charleston County, and in 2000 with strong armed robbery and purse snatching in Newberry County. In 2012, Rowe was charged with grand larceny, also in Newberry County. Rowe also has numerous driving under suspension and DUI convictions on his résumé, as well as several drug charges.
Rowe was transported to the Fairfield County Detention Center where, as of press time, he is awaiting a bond hearing.
