GPS Nails Hiram Bank Robbery Suspects

Two men accused of robbing a bank in Hiram are behind bars Wednesday morning.

Police arrested them within an hour of the hold up thanks to GPS technology.

Police found 23-year-old Vernon Keith McDougald and 39-year-old Jemal D. Coleman at the Windsor Square Townhomes in Atlanta.

But how they found them caught even the suspects off guard.

The two men were discovered by modern technology. Police say a GPS device was hidden in the money the men allegedly stole. The cash and the device were in the trunk of a Nissan.

"I looked into the trunk and and saw a bag full of money, nothing but 20s. In the trunk? In the trunk, nothing but 20s," said witness Tamika Smith.

Police wouldn't say much about the GPS device hidden inside the stolen money, but describe it like a dot on a map they can zero in on.

"It's something similar to that. On a mapping system dispatch relays to us the information on where it is and we do our best to attempt to locate that device from there," said Cpl. Brandon Gurley of the Paulding County Sheriffs Office.

At one point, police pulled over a black SUV with two men inside. Originally police were told by bank employees that the robbers drove away in a dark colored SUV. Once police questioned the men in the SUV they were released with a handshake and that's when the device starting pinging again – leading them to the townhomes.

"The officers came up and talked with him and they took him over there and the next thing I know they were putting the handcuffs on him," said another witness, Bill Rouse.

The second suspect was found in an apartment in the complex. Police say the men used a note to rob the Bank of North Georgia in Hiram. Without the track device, they might still be on the run.

The suspects have their first court appearance Wednesday in Paulding County.

Both suspects are currently being held without bond at the Paulding County Detention Center.