Man uses macaroni box to try to rob bank

Police on Friday arrested a man suspected of using a box of macaroni in an attempt to rob a Mocksville bank.

Mark Anthony Carpenter, 44, was being held in the local jail until Davie County authorities could take him back to Mocksville to be charged with attempted armed robbery.

Authorities said a man walked into a bank Thursday with a box of macaroni and claimed it was a bomb. The would-be robber fled after tellers refused to give him any money.

Mocksville police identified Carpenter as a suspect in the robbery attempt and had information that he might have fled to Butner, and they notified Butner Public Safety to be on the lookout for him.

Officers spotted Carpenter in downtown Butner at about 3 p.m. Friday and apprehended him in some nearby woods after a brief chase on foot, police said.