Now the FBI has named a suspect after bank surveillance photos from holdups dating to May were flashed on electronic billboards across the South. And authorities say the same man is now suspected of robbing an Indiana bank on Friday.
The case is a powerful demonstration of the technological leap from the old wanted posters hanging in the post office. A four-month search using traditional investigation techniques hadn't worked, yet the suspect was identified within 24 hours of the photo popping up on wall-size electronic highway signs in eight states.
"We basically were flooded with calls and tips. Hundreds of them," said FBI Agent Kevin Keithley in Johnson City, Tenn. "And that is what we were looking for."
The FBI says a public service network of 1,000 electronic billboards in 40 states organized by major billboard companies and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America has led directly to the capture of 20 felons and fugitives and aided in arresting many others since it was created 18 months ago.
"Oh, fantastic," David Jernigan, Knoxville area manager for Louisiana-based Lamar Advertising Co., said when told that his company's billboard ads of the bank robbery had brought results.
"Obviously, one of the things about this technology is that we can very, very quickly meet the mass audience in situations like crimes or AMBER alerts with society being very mobile," he said.
The robber has traveled over 600 miles since his first holdup in Louisville, Ky., in May, down to South Carolina, then into North Carolina. Before Friday's holdup, the latest robberies were Aug. 18 in Jefferson City and Morristown, Tenn.
The suspect has been identified as Chad E. Schaffner, 36, of Indianapolis. He was released from the Indiana Department of Corrections last December after serving time for armed robbery, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Tennessee to support an arrest warrant.
The 200-pound, 6-foot-tall, white suspect has a goatee, short brown hair and tattoos on his arms. He may be driving a black 1994 GMC Jimmy pickup with a Tennessee license plate or a red 1994 Chevrolet S10 pickup with a South Carolina tag. He's considered armed and dangerous.
In every case, the robber has entered the bank, waved a handgun and threatened to use it. He demands money, then flees. He sometimes wears a red baseball cap, but never tries to hide his face, which Keithley considers "very uncommon."
"He hasn't hurt anybody yet," the FBI agent said. "And that is why we want to get him into custody before he does."
The FBI-posted picture has been running on electronic billboards in Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
