The trial of a Petal man accused of robbing the Halls Ferry branch of Trustmark Bank 20 months ago got under way in Warren County Circuit Court today.

Kevin McCain, 50, 406 W. 7th Ave., 9B, is accused of the Jan. 30, 2008, holdup. A robber entered the bank at 3406 Halls Ferry Road around 9:40 a.m., that day, handed the teller a note demanding money and left with about $2,100.

McCain was arrested less than two hours later in Mendenhall, about 75 miles southeast of Vicksburg, after being stopped for traffic violations.

Judge Isadore Patrick is presiding. District Attorney Ricky Smith is prosecuting the case with Assistant District Attorney Lane Campbell. The defense attorney is Eugene Perrier.

McCain has been in the Issaquena County Jail since his arrest, bond having been denied because he was already on federal probation. He was also implicated in a Jan. 25, 2008, bank robbery in Marshall, Texas, and an attempted bank robbery Jan. 28 in Bossier City, La.

Mendenhall police impounded McCain’s 2005 Nissan Sentra and released him on $1,450 cash bond. He was later recognized by an officer from surveillance photos released by Vicksburg police and taken back into custody when he came to pick up his car. Most of the money was recovered, police said.

If convicted, McCain faces a possible 15-year prison sentence, Smith said.

The Jan. 30 bank robbery was the first of four in Warren County in 2008, three of them within the city. A Britton and Koontz branch on U.S. 61 North was robbed March 20. No suspects have been identified in that case. On May 5, a BancorpSouth branch on Pemberton Square Boulevard was robbed, for which a Pennsylvania couple were later arrested and charged by federal officials. The Dec. 18 robbery of a BancorpSouth branch on Indiana Avenue also remains unsolved. One suspect was arrested, but later no-billed by a Warren County grand jury.

Two bank robberies have occurred in Vicksburg in 2009 — the downtown branch of Trustmark on Feb. 13, for which no arrest has been made; and the East Clay Street Regions Bank on March 13, with which a Vicksburg man is charged.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com