GREENVILLE -- A bank teller stopped a robbery before it happened Thursday morning, and helped detectives catch a man who is now charged with several other Upstate robberies.

Video

How The Suspect Was Captured Alert Teller, Nearby Officer Lead To Arrest

The FBI says that Christopher Bishop, 22, walked into the CCB Bank on Augusta Street in Greenville around 9 a.m. Thursday .

The bank teller recognized him from pictures she had seen on television recently. Investigators say that the teller then called police.

Greenville police officer Jerry Phillips was just about to get off duty from an overnight shift when he got the call.

He was about a block away and got to the bank in less than a minute.

"I kind of stepped around toward the front door and at the same time I said 'Sir, I'd like to see your ID,' " Phillips told WYFF News 4's Brad Willis. "He bolted out the front door and, of course, the chase was on. As he fled, he dropped his wig, dropped a note, dropped a shirt, and dropped a cap."

Officers chased Bishop into the surrounding neighborhood and then set up a perimeter to trap him. After about an hour and a half ofsearching, they found Bishop hiding in a garage in a nearby back yard.

Bishop has a long criminal record for vandalism.

Now, he faces more serious charges. FBI agent Bob Hammett told News 4 that Bishop been charged with Wednesday's robbery at a Palemtto Brank branch on Grove Road and that he will be charged for the two robberies in Anderson County earlier this month.

Greenville Police Sgt. Mike Gambrell says that the teller deserves a lot of credit for catching the suspect.

"She prevented a bank robbery from happening, possibly somebody getting hurt, she prevented all of this form happening," Gambrell told News 4.