Robber hits bank in Hixson Walmart and other police news

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo This surveillance photo shows the woman who robbed the Suntrust Bank branch inside the Hixson Walmart on Saturday morning.

Robber hits bank in Walmart

A woman robbed the Suntrust Bank branch inside the Highway 153 Walmart on Saturday, Chattanooga police said.

The woman came into the bank about 9:30 a.m. and handed a note to the teller demanding money and stating that she had a gun, according to a news release.

The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of money and the woman left, driving away in a gray/silver vehicle, police spokesman Nathan Hartwig said.

The robber is described as black, 5 feet, 3 inches to 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing 200 to 240 pounds.

She has tattoos on her forearm and was wearing a Dallas Cowboys ball cap with a star on the front, a black sleeveless jacket, white T-shirt and dark pants.

Anyone with information on this crime is asked to call the Chattanooga Police Department at 423-698-2525.

Ooltewah woman hurt in I-24 crash

The crash that shut down Interstate 24 near Manchester, Tenn., Saturday injured an Ooltewah woman and her passenger.

Christie Bowman, 40, and her female passenger were injured when Bowman's 2002 Nissan Frontier ran off the road near mile marker 116 about 1:30 p.m. CDT, said Tennessee Department of Safety spokeswoman Dalya Qualls.

The vehicle hit a wrecker that was parked there because of a previous crash, Qualls said. Then it spun back into the travel lane, where a tractor-trailer hit it in the rear and pushed it into the median.

Qualls said neither woman's injuries were believed to be life-threatening, but they were flown to Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga. She said the truck driver was unhurt.

The crash blocked eastbound lanes for at least 50 minutes, she said.

A Times Free Press employee traveling through the area shortly before 3 p.m. CDT said a tractor-trailer was overturned off the right side of the highway and at least two helicopters landed and took off again while he was sitting in traffic.