ATM BANK ROBBER WHO FLED ON MOPED FOUND GUILTY AND SENTENCED TO PRISON
February 9, 2023
On February 8, thirty-three year old Nevelle Eberhart was convicted of Armed Robbery and Possession of a Weapon During the Commission of a Violent Crime by a Richland County Jury.
The facts presented to the jury were that on January 1, 2022, seventy-nine year old James Stewart was robbed at gunpoint at a First Palmetto Bank ATM on Devine St at 4:45pm. The incident was captured on ATM surveillance video and showed Defendant Eberhart driving up on a moped to rob Stewart at gunpoint. The victim fled and Eberhart pursued the victim on a moped, completing the robbery and taking Stewart’s cell phone, $21, and ATM card.
A Columbia Police Department Investigator was able to obtain the license plate from the moped used in the robbery and tracked it to Eberhart’s location. GPS-monitoring data from an ankle-monitor on Eberhart from a previous Strong-Armed Robbery charge, for which Eberhart was out on bond, also placed Eberhart in the vicinity at the time of the robbery. When Eberhart was arrested, he had the victim’s stolen debit card in his pocket.
Assistant Solicitors Ruston W. Neely and Paul Walton prosecuted the case for the State. The Honorable DeAndrea Benjamin sentenced Eberhart to 15 years in prison for the Armed Robbery and 5 years in prison for the Possession of a Weapon During the Commission of a Violent Crime.