South Carolina Man Dubbed the Nike Hat Bandit Indicted on Charges of Bank Robbery in South Florida

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announced the filing of a three-count indictment charging defendant Wesley Todd McCracken, 41, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with bank robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113(a).

The indictment charges that McCracken, nicknamed the “Nike Hat Bandit,” robbed a Wells Fargo Bank in Palm Beach Garden, Florida on November 21, 2012; attempted to rob another Wells Fargo Bank in Dania Beach, Florida on November 30, 2012; and on that same day, robbed a BB&T Bank in Pompano Beach, Florida. McCracken was arrested on December 29, 2011 in Georgetown, South Carolina, after committing a robbery at the South Carolina Bank and Trust. The South Carolina United States Attorney’s Office indicted McCracken in March 2012, charging him with four counts of bank robbery.

McCracken wore a Nike baseball hat when he allegedly robbed banks in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, usually approaching bank tellers with threatening notes indicating he had a gun and demanding a particular amount of cash.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI’s South Florida Violent Crime/Fugitive Task Force, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, and the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Steinberg.

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.