Wilmington Wells Fargo robbed

WILMINGTON -- Police responded to a bank robbery on South College Road in Wilmington Thursday morning.

According to a Tweet from the Wilmington Police Department, the robbery happened at about 11 a.m. at Wells Fargo at 590 S. College Road. The suspect is described at a 25-year-old black male with a goatee, 5-feet-4-inches tall, 130 lbs, wearing a flat-rimmed baseball hat, a red puffy jacket, dark blue jeans and tab boots.

Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to contact the Wilmington Police Department via 911, at 910-343-3609 or anonymously submit a tip via Text-A-Tip. Send “Tip708” and the information to 274637 (CRIMES).

Wilmington police released a surveillance image of the suspect Thursday. The man pictured appeared to be wearing clothing identical to a suspect in another recent robbery, this one in Brunswick County.

That robbery happened Wednesday night at Circle K gas station at 7806 Ocean Highway East in Leland. The Brunswick County Sheriff's Office identified the supect in that case as Elijah Mahammad McFarland, 35, charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Surveillance images from both the Circle K and Wells Fargo robberies showed a man wearing a white baseball cap reading "Trust No. 1" and a red jacket with a design over the left breast.

Brunswick Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Emily Flax said that a Brunswick detective has spoken to WPD about the Circle K robbery, but the office has not received confirmation from WPD if they are related.

WPD spokeswoman Jennifer Dandron confirmed Thursday that the office was aware of the similarity. "It is something that we're aware of and we're looking into it," she said.

Reporter Cammie Bellamy can be reached at Cammie.Bellamy@StarNewsOnline.com.