A Carter County man charged with attempting to rob a city bank appeared in court Thursday morning.

Officers of the Elizabethton Police Department arrested Alexander Leroy, 33, 112 Hickory Hollow Road, Apt. 1, Elizabethton, in December 2016 on a charge of attempted aggravated robbery. At his first appearance in General Sessions Court Leroy waived his right to a preliminary hearing and asked the court to bind the case over to the Grand Jury.

On March 13 the Grand Jury returned an indictment against Leroy charging him with attempted aggravated robbery (weapon) and attempted aggravated robbery (fear).

Leroy appeared in Carter County Criminal Court Monday morning before Judge Stacy Street to answer the indicted charges.

Street asked Leroy what he intended to do regarding an attorney to represent him.

“I guess to hire one,” Leroy replied, adding it would take him about three months to put the money together to hire an attorney.

Street then addressed the District Attorney’s Office regarding the case.

“General, there is a conflict,” Street said. “I represented Mr. Leroy at one time, so I’m going to move this case to Judge (Lisa) Rice.”

Street then set Leroy to return to court on July 11 before Rice.

The charges against Leroy stem from an investigation by the Elizabethton Police Department into an attempted robbery at Carter County Bank branch location on Bemberg Road on Dec. 8.

According to court documents, employees at the bank said a man, later identified as Leroy, entered the bank, stood at a workstation area filling out paperwork for several minutes and then approached a teller with a deposit ticket with the amount $500,000 written on it.

“The teller reported that the male was acting strangely and she realized that he was attempting to commit a robbery,” EPD Capt. Joy Shoun said in the warrant for Leroy’s arrest. “She also observed something in his pocket and based on his movements was in fear for her safety.”

The teller reported she told the man she did not have that amount of money at the branch and he asked her if someone else could get it. The teller said she was able to activate the bank’s panic alarm and walk over to another teller and alert the other employee as to what was going on.

The teller told officers they again told Leroy they did not have that amount of money at the branch and he then told them to give him “what they had in their drawer,” Shoun said. The employees told Leroy they were unable to access the money and he then left the bank.

Bank employees provided police with a description of the suspect, and a witness provided a description of the man’s vehicle. According to court documents, the officers located the vehicle a short time later and identified the suspect as Leroy. Officers reported finding a wig and hat matching the description given by the tellers as well as a Carter County Bank deposit slip with $500,000 written on it.