NEWPORT-Two men, one armed with an assault rifle, robbed Tennessee State Bank in Newport of an undisclosed amount of money on Wednesday, Dec. 26.

A Newport Police Department patrolman who happened to be driving nearby the bank, which is located at 107 Epley Road between Lowe's and the Cosby Highway, responded quickly to a dispatch reporting the robbery and confronted the two white males, who on video surveillance appeared to be in their 20's.

NPD Chief Maurice Shults said the officer "got the robbers outside the bank", thus averting a potential hostage situation. 

The officer took cover in the parking lot behind his police cruiser and attempted to call for assistance from other officers. The robber with the assault rifle ordered the officer to lie on the ground "and told him not to be stupid or he would kill him," according a report by Capt. Scott Lamb stated.
The officer was ordered to remove the ammunition from his Glock 31 service gun, which he did, according to the police chief.

The robbers then confiscated the officer's gun before fleeing in what was described as a silver SUV.

For more details, please see the Thursday edition of the Newport Plain Talk.