New Media Producer: Amanda Lents
Information provided by our NBC affiliate WTHR in Indianapolis
Update, Fri 10:40 am: Police suspect a prison escapee is making the rounds at Hamilton County businesses and banks.
Early Thursday morning, the cameras were rolling even before a bank robber pulled up and went to work. And the pictures may just show a man with a fiery past.
Authorities say when Kelvin Fuller scaled the Westville prison fence early Wednesday, he left four and a half years short of his 20-year debt for an arson set to cover up a burglary.
In 1990, the small Anderson office building with smoldering memories drew a lot of attention. The owner was Grammy winning gospel singer Sandi Patty. Anderson police arrested a lifelong criminal who lived in a nearby apartment.
Anderson Police Detective Joel Sandefur told Eyewitness News Fuller is well known to them, "He's had his scrapes with law enforcement over the years."
Sandefur then viewed a photo taken of a bank robber earlier Thursday at a Fishers bank branch, "He's put on weight since the last time we've seen him."
It appears the man in the photo of the bank robbery is Kelvin Fuller. Without showing a weapon, the bank robber forced ten employees to the floor, while ordering a teller to empty the cash drawers into a bag.
Even under the cover of the wide brimmed hat worn by the robber, investigators see a strong resemblance to the prison's picture of Fuller.
And there are more pictures, captured a few minutes earlier inside the entrance to the Fishers Target store, and later checking out at the cash register. It appears the man in the surveillance photo is buying a wide brimmed hat.
Fishers police Sgt. Gerry Hepp, checking the bank photos, also sees a strong resemblance, "(There's) a lot of similarities to Kelvin Fuller. We know from the State Police he has family or contacts in Anderson, Indiana, which is located also right here on Interstate 69."
At an office parking lot behind the bank, more surveillance cameras show the suspect arrive. He's driving a white, late model Chevy Malibu. A white 2004 Malibu was stolen from a farmhouse near the Westville prison a day earlier.
After turning the car around to face away from the bank next door, the driver gets out and walks casually across the parking lot, even sitting down for a couple minutes before heading toward the bank.
He's picked up his pace and the next and final time he's seen, jumping in the Malibu and speeding off. There have been no additional reports of anyone seeing Fuller.
Previously: Indiana State Police are asking for the public to be on the lookout for a dangerous prison escapee.
Kelvin J. Fuller, 40, escaped from a northwest Indiana prison Thursday morning, but he has relatives in Madison County, Indiana and Montgomery, Alabama. Police think he may be trying to get there on a route that would take him right through the Tri-State.
Fuller has already allegedly assaulted a female bus driver, who had just dropped off a group of children at the Deep River Water Park in Merrillville. He was last seen about 11:25am EDT driving west on U.S. Highway 30 in a stolen, white, 2004 Chevy Malibu. The car has four doors and a sunroof and its "In God We Trust" license plate number is WI-7309.
Fuller is described as a black male with a mustache, short black hair, brown eyes, five feet, nine inches tall and approximately 175 lbs. He was last seen wearing a tan shirt and pants.
Fuller has been in prison since 1992, after being sentenced in Madison County on numerous charges including armed robbery, arson, battery and criminal confinement.
If you spot him, or the white car, call 911 immediately.
Photo: Fishers Police Dept.
Photo: Fishers Police Dept.
