By BEN LUNDIN

Staff Reporter

LULING – St. Charles police are searching for a man who allegedly robbed a bank at gunpoint and made off with a sack of money early Monday morning.

A black male allegedly walked into the Whitney National Bank on Hwy. 90 at 9:30 a.m. wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and camouflage mask and pointed a gun at a teller, demanding she give him all the large bills in her till.

The teller triggered a silent alarm and filled up a gym bag with cash and a pack of red dye, which stained the money and the suspect’s sweatshirt when it exploded during the man’s escape, according to the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office.

The man fled from the bank parking lot in a green car and escaped the area before police arrived.

St. Charles police recovered a gun, a dye-stained sweatshirt and bag of dye-stained cash a short distance from the bank on the same day of the robbery. The gym bag did not contain all of the money stolen in the robbery.

All the bank employees and the one customer in the bank were unharmed in the robbery.

Sheriff Greg Champagne urges residents to be attentive of anyone trying to purchase goods with dye-stained bills and asks that residents contact the police immediately if they discover any of the money. Anyone with information should contact the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office at (985) 783-6807 or Crime Stoppers at 1(877) 903-STOP. The Sheriff’s Office is offering a reward of up to $2500 for information, and callers will not be required to testify or provide their names.

&#8220Our biggest concern is always for the of our employees and our customers and in this case we’re very fortunate no one was injured,” said Cheryl Jones, Vice President of Advertising and Public Relations for Whitney National Bank.

&#8220We’re working with police and other officials to apprehend the robber,” she added.