Authorities hunt Spanish Fort bank robber

Authorities were searching late Wednesday for a man who robbed a Regions Bank branch in Spanish Fort.

Meanwhile, a Theodore man has been indicted on federal bank robbery charges in connection with an Oct. 27 holdup of a Compass Bank branch on Government Boulevard in Mobile.

Robert Guerry Tatum, 39, was arrested less than a week after the robbery by Mobile police, who received a tip from someone who had seen a surveillance video on local news reports. According to the indictment, the robber made off with $3,015. The bank branch is located at 3959 Government Blvd.

The man sought in Wednesday's Spanish Fort robbery was described as being a 6-foot tall, 150- to 160-pound black male wearing an orange shirt, camouflage hat, blue pants, brown work gloves and yellow-tinted sunglasses, authorities said.

He was carrying a handgun in his right hand and a black shopping bag in his left when he walked into the Regions Bank at 6279 Spanish Fort Blvd. around 3:30 p.m. and demanded money, according to Special Agent Craig Dahle, an FBI spokesman.

The man was "brandishing (the gun) about in a very reckless manner," Dahle said. "It was pretty obvious what he was about from the minute he walked in."

The man was last seen leaving the bank and heading west in a white Ford Taurus with a temporary license plate, Dahle said. No one was reported injured in the robbery, he added.

Dahle said he did not know how much money the man took.

Spanish Fort Police Chief David Edgar declined to provide any additional information Wednesday afternoon.

"All the press releases and information is coming out of the FBI. They're going to be the ones taking the lead on the investigation," Edgar said.

A woman who answered the phone at the bank also declined to talk about the robbery.

"I'm sorry I can't discuss it right now, thank you," she said.

Wednesday's robbery marked the third reported in south Alabama since September.

In addition to the Compass Bank holdup in late October, two teens were charged in mid-September with taking more than $30,000 from a SouthTrust Bank branch in Daphne.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.