Crestview Police Makes Arrest in Regions Bank Robbery

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Crestview, FL – A 66-year-old Pensacola man is now in custody after walking into the Regions Bank in Crestview, FL and demanding.

Just before 4:30 p.m., Friday, November 1st, the Crestview Police Department responded to Regions Bank on South Ferdon Boulevard, in reference to a Bank Robbery. The suspect was wearing a fluorescent yellow safety vest and a large straw hat with a face mask. He held his hand in his pocket, claiming to have a weapon, and demanded money from the bank tellers during the robbery.

When officers arrived on scene, the suspect had already fled the area on foot, running towards an adjacent shopping plaza.

The subject, who was still wearing the highly visible safety vest, was seen by witnesses, getting into a white SUV and then driving erratically through the parking lot.

During the course of the investigation, the suspect was quickly identified as 66-year-old James Keith Johnson, of Pensacola, Florida.

Johnson is no stranger to bank robbery, as he is a Federal Bureau of Prisons Parolee for his arrested for two separate Florida bank robberies back in March of 1995. He was caught after laundering the bank’s dye-stained bills, through a casino token machine in Mississippi. Johnson was convicted in Florida in November of 1995 and received a sentence of 327 months in prison.

Immediately following the robbery at the Regions Bank in Crestview, Johnson drove to Niceville and was seen at a Native American event in the Niceville area. Johnson, who took on the name Thunder Eagle Ghost Dancer after his 1995 bank robbery conviction, stayed at the event for only a short time.

Johnson left the event before officers arrived and returned to his home in Pensacola. During that time, an arrest warrant was issued for his arrest in Crestview, while investigators coordinated with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office to take Johnson into custody at his residence.

Johnson was arrested at his home on West Bay Point Drive in Pensacola, by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

The Crestview Police Department credits the speedy apprehension of Johnson, to the meticulous work of the department’s police officers and Investigators, and to Law Enforcement partnerships with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, who both assisted the agency in locating and arresting Johnson swiftly.

Johnson was booked into the Escambia County Jail and has been charged with Robbery. Johnson will be awaiting first appearance and the coordination of his extradition back to Okaloosa County.