Two charged with robbing Columbia bank

Two men have been charged in Thursday’s robbery of Central Bank of Boone County on Paris Road.

Prosecutors on Friday charged Randall Shaw of Columbia with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action and Richard Welty of Columbia with first-degree robbery.

Columbia police were sent to the bank at 1916 Paris Road a little before noon on a report of a panic alarm, according to a probable cause statement filed in the case. Officers learned the bank had been robbed and surveillance video showed a bald white man wearing a gray tank top and shorts with socks or gauze covering part of his arms, possibly to cover up tattoos, the statement said.

The man went into the lobby two times. The second time, 30 minutes after the first, he handed a clerk a note saying he wanted $5,000, police said. The note included the letters “SRY.” The video also showed the man pull up his shirt to reveal a large, police-style flashlight in his waistband, the statement said. The man got away with $1,651, police said.

An investigating officer recognized Shaw and found out Shaw is often with Welty, the statement said. Descriptions of the getaway vehicle, which was parked nearby at Region’s Bank, from witnesses matched Welty’s car, police said. Welty also matched the witness description of the driver, according to the statement.

Neither of the men was in custody late Friday. Welty’s bond was set at $75,000 and Shaw’s was set at $100,000.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been corrected to reflect that the probable cause statement said one suspect had a flashlight in his waistband.