Marietta police acted swiftly and intelligently to put an end to a bank robbery spree, nabbing the suspect right as he was exiting the bank with several thousand dollars of cash in hand.

The Marietta Police Department said the suspect is accused of robbing a Wells Fargo earlier that day before trying his luck at a Bank of America.

Police were waiting for him in the parking lot outside of the Bank of America, and immediately took him into custody.

Police said they didn’t want to spook the suspect, so they made sure that their cars were hidden. Instead, they had unmarked cars waiting for the suspect.

“Because it’s on a major intersection, you had roads closed”, Officer McPhilamy said. “You had police all around the backside of the business and you had unmarked cars in the front.  We needed to have vehicles around the building, but we didn’t necessarily want that individual to know we were there and stay inside and become a barricaded hostage.”

Suspect John Chavish, a 35-year-old man from Smyrna, had apparently handed a bank teller a note demanding $5,000 in cash before gesturing with his hands under a towel as if there was a gun, which caused bank employees to activate a silent alarm.

Earlier that day, Chavish was able to rob a Wells Fargo at 602 Roswell St. before exiting the building and successfully evading police.

Officer Chuck McPhilamy credited the response to the department’s “Holiday Season Crime Prevention Plan,” which implements several strategies, including the use of unmarked patrols, to combat crime during the holiday season.

“It’s a comprehensive program. What you saw yesterday was that program paying off.” McPhilamy said.

Chavis is being held without bond at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on felony charges of robbery.