Haines

RANSON – A man who led police on a high speed pursuit Monday after allegedly attempting rob a bank drive-through window in Ranson was arraigned on felony charges Tuesday in both Berkeley County and Jefferson County.

As of Tuesday, 40-year-old Mark Daniel Haines has been charged with one count of possesion of a stolen vehicle and robbery/non-aggravated in Jefferson County. In Berkeley County, he is charged with felony possession of a stolen vehicle and misdemeanor charges of fleeing in a vehicle and obstructing an officer.

As of Tuesday, Haines was in Eastern Regional Jail on a $250,000 bail assigned in Jefferson County and a $10,000 cash-only bail assigned in Berkeley County.

Police in Berkeley County originally stated Monday night in a press release that Haines was from Wheeling, Ohio.

His last two known addresses have since been identified as Market Street in Wheeling and Redbird Lane in Harpers Ferry, which Lt. Gary Harmison of the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday is the residence of the accused’s mother.

According to court records, at about 4:50 p.m. Monday, Patrolman Chuck Lynch of the Ranson Police Department responded to the City National Bank located at 75 West Virginia Way in the Potomac Marketplace shopping center for a report of a bank robbery.

Units from the Ranson City Police, Charles Town Police, West Virginia State Police and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department all responded as well. Prior to Lynch’s arrival at the scene, the only known information was that the suspect was a man wearing an orange ski mask who left in a large white truck in an unknown direction, records show.

Lynch arrived at the bank at abut 4:54 p.m. and spoke to the victim teller. The teller said that she was working at the bank’s drive-through window with another teller when a man wearing an orange ski mask drove up to the window in a small white truck.

The suspect told the tellers, “I know where you live and she lives. I know you are pressing the alarm. Give me $4,000 and no one gets hurt,” records show.

The victim teller then told the other teller to duck and ran into the lobby. After the unsuccessful robbery attempt, the suspect left in an unknown direction, records show.

A short time later, a pursuit ensued after Jefferson County Sheriff Robert “Bobby” Shirley spotted the suspect’s truck in Kearneysville.

At the time, Deputy T.A. Sherman with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department overheard police radio traffic regarding the vehicle pursuit in Jefferson County.

The vehicle was reported to be on Charles Town Road heading toward Berkeley County. Sherman traveled in that direction as he continued listening to the pursuit on the radio.

As Sherman approached the intersection of Winebrenner Road and Gosling Marsh Road, a white Dodge truck with multiple police units in pursuit passed by his location. Sherman then joined the pursuit with the other Jefferson County police units. The pursuit continued south on Winebrenner Road where Berkeley County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Myers deployed stop sticks at the intersection of Winebrenner Road and Files Cross Road, records show.

The stop sticks deflated all four of the suspect’s tires. The vehicle then turned right onto Files Cross Road and proceeded toward W.Va. 45. After traveling about a quarter-mile, the vehicle then turned left into a field. The truck then stopped at the edge of a wooded area where Haines jumped out and attempted to flee, records show.

Officers from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and Ranson Police Department were attempting to restrain Haines, who was resisting arrest, records show.

Haines was officially apprehended at about 5:18 p.m. Monday, records show.

Haines was later taken to City Hospital for treatment for minor injuries before being taken to Eastern Regional Jail to await arraignment.

The truck he was driving was reported stolen, records show.

As of Tuesday night, police had not said yet if they considered Haines a suspect in similar bank robberies and attempted bank robberies last week in Maryland and Berkeley County.

“We don’t have anything new. We may do something later toward the end of the week that we can put out, but nothing new right now,” Harmison said.

Police in Berkeley County are currently investigating a Dec. 22 bank robbery at a BB&T bank drive-through. That bank, located at 1111 Winchester Ave., was robbed by a suspect driving a stolen black pickup truck. The suspect in that robbery was described as a white male wearing a black and white plaid overcoat, sunglasses and what appeared to be a black ski mask covering his mouth and forehead.

Earlier that same day, at about 4:10 p.m., the Washington County Sheriff’s Department responded to a Susquehanna Bank drive-up office located at 17301 Valley Mall Road in Hagerstown for a robbery.

In that robbery, a white male suspect drove up to the bank teller window at about 4:06 p.m. and demanded money. The suspect was wearing a black ski mask, sunglasses, a blue flannel shirt and orange gloves.

Police in Frederick County, Md., also are investigating a Dec. 21 attempted bank robbery at a PNC Bank located at 5279 Buckeystown Pike in Frederick. The suspect in that robbery was described as a white male wearing a yellow plaid shirt and a gas mask.