Aspiring police officer stops bank robbery

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) - A man’s quick thinking Thursday morning has been lauded as an act of heroism after he disarmed an alleged bank robber and held him down until police arrived.

Quarles Harris, 51, was convicted of robbing the same Regions Bank on Sherwood Forest in 2015.

Thursday morning, Harris showed up at the same bank demanding cash again.

When Brandon Searles stepped in to help, Harris bit him, which required him to go to the doctor and receive a Tetanus shot.

Searles said he does not bank with Regions but went there after his father had wired him some money. He was in the teller line near Harris when he said Harris brandished a gun and demanded cash.

“She (the teller) ran and he started yelling,” Searles said. “Once he realized he gathered everyone’s attention, everything went downhill and that’s when he started waving the gun around.”

Searles said it was divine intervention.

“Holy, holy, holy for the Lord thy God is everything to me,” Searles said. “He is awesome. Not only did He put me in a position to serve and be a blessing to those inside the bank, He gave me the courage to serve when I needed to, and He protected us.”

Searles has four years of military service and is currently going through the application process to enter the Baton Rouge Police Academy.

He said when Harris started waving the gun, his adrenaline kicked in and he immediately took action.

“He leaned across the counter, and when he did it, he leaned on his gun,” Searles said. “I grabbed the gun, and I wrapped the gun, and his arm was twisted, and I used my left arm around his body and brought him back.”

Searles said he threw the gun across the lobby and instructed another patron to hold it until police arrived. Searles stayed on top of Harris the whole time, holding him down.

“At first, he started mentioning his kids,” Searles said. “He said I’m doing this for my kids. I need this money. Hearing that, it played at my heart a bit. I don’t know who he is or what he could have gone through, what position he was in in life to resort to such things.”

As police arrived, they realized Searles was in the process of applying to be a police officer. Although he is being lauded as a hero, he hopes his public service can continue.

“If I were in the position to do it again, I would,” Searles said.

Harris was arrested and charged with armed robbery, unauthorized use of a moving vehicle, and simple battery.

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