Whitley County man accused of bank robbery in Jellico

Williamsburg police captured a suspected Jellico bank robber from Whitley County late Tuesday evening.

Williamsburg Police Detective Bobby Freeman charged Billy Joe Blankenship, 31, of Williamsburg, with being a fugitive from another state in connection with the robbery.

He was lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center pending extradition back to Tennessee.

The robbery apparently happened about 3 p.m. Tuesday at First Volunteer Bank, which is located at the intersection of Fifth and Broad streets in Jellico.

Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird said that he was unaware of the robbery until Jellico police notified him about 7 p.m.
Jellico Police Detective Jeff Partin told Williamsburg officers that the suspect entered the bank, brandished what appeared to be a black handgun and left with an undetermined amount of cash, according to a Williamsburg Police Department press release.

Partin also told police that the suspect was possibly in the Black Oak community of Whitley County.

The white truck that Blankenship was arrested driving was identified in the robbery, according to the arrest warrant that Freeman obtained.

About 8:30 p.m., Williamsburg police, Jellico police and members of the Knoxville FBI Safe Streets Task Force went to Blankenship’s 724 Black Oak Road residence where they received permission to search the home from his wife, Bird said.

"While we were doing a consent search, he drove by," Bird said. "Officers saw him as he went by. He turned and came back by and they did a felony stop on him somewhere around 9 or 9:30 p.m.," Bird said.

After conducting a felony traffic stop, police found an undisclosed amount of cash, several firearms and several rounds of ammunition, according to the press release.

Bird said that police recovered a shotgun and at least one other firearm from the vehicle, but not the gun allegedly used in the robbery.

"Actually, the entire amount of the money has not been recovered yet," Bird said. "The amount we recovered was partial and we learned from statements that it was from the robbery. The full amount has not been recovered yet."

Bird said that Blankenship spoke with Jellico police officers and FBI agents from Tennessee Tuesday evening, but doesn’t know what he told them.

Police also recovered evidence in the home from the bank robbery, according to an arrest warrant obtained by Freeman.
Blankenship was arrested without incident and taken into custody. Tennessee authorities are in the process of extraditing him back to Tennessee to face bank robbery charges, according to a press release from the Knoxville Division of the FBI.

Freeman is working with Partin and Detective J.J. Hatmaker as the investigation continues in both Kentucky and Tennessee.
Bird, Assistant Chief Rick Mosley, Officer Mike Taylor, K-9 Officer Brandon Prewitt and several FBI agents assisted Freeman at the scene.