Update July 8: It looks as though Tony Murray had been allegedly smoking crack cocaine earlier in the day, prior to being involved in the bank robbery hoax.
Police reported in the arrest warrant that Murray "owed money to the alleged kidnapper for crack cocaine used earlier, voluntarily, by the defendant and the alleged kidnapper during the morning hours."
For the deets, head over to The Post and Courier's report here.
Update July 7, 4 p.m.: Murray has been given a $25,000 bail by a none-too-happy Linda Lombard who was either upset by all the chaos that was caused by Murray's alleged lie of being held against his will or Murray's curses in court — that said, Murray appears resolved to prove his innocence.
First reporting: Market at Meeting streets is tourist central in Charleston; it's also home to a Wachovia bank, and tourists in the area got quite a show on Wednesday.
Blue lights, guns, 'hostages,' and even a suspicious package.
But despite the good theater, the scare proved to be little more than one man trying to escape debt.
The story unfolds like this: Tony Murray owed money to Cassius Clay Davis (both of Charleston and in their mid-40s), and when Murray went with Davis to the bank to purportedly withdraw money, he instead saw an opportunity for an out and said he was being held against his will.
And from there, we got to the show that unfolded Wednesday.
Murray is now charged with filing a false police report in reference to a felony, and while Davis was vindicated, he had an existing warrant for distribution of cocaine base.
The Post and Courier has a solid report on the zaniness (read it here), and NBC News 2 has a solid video report (watch it up top or over here).
