A suspect in the Alpine Bank robbery was arraigned Friday afternoon with a hearing set for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

Lincoln Carpenter, 23, from Massachusetts was apprehended Wednesday in Dillon Valley after allegedly robbing the Alpine Bank branch in Dillon. Summit County law enforcement agencies, the FBI and the Summit County SWAT team combined to arrest Carpenter at 938 Deer Path Rd. in the unincorporated Summit County neighborhood. The suspect was charged with aggravated robbery, a class 3 felony, and theft, a class 4 felony. He is currently being held at the Summit County Jail on a $150,000 bond.

Authorities followed Carpenter’s footprints and used dogs to track his scent to the Dillon Valley area, but the trail went cold due to the high amount of traffic in the area, according to Dillon Police Chief Joe Wray. A series of high-quality photographs of the suspect taken from the bank’s surveillance cameras were shown to neighbors who helped identify Carpenter and where he was staying. Evidence of the robbery was found in the residence where the arrest was made.

“It was not a case where we had tracks up to the door,” Wray said. “The trail stopped a distance away, and then we did a door-to-door type investigation.”

Carpenter allegedly entered Alpine Bank at 2:45 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 22, handed a note to the teller demanding money and indicated he had a weapon. The assailant was given an undisclosed amount of money before he left the bank on foot and exited through the parking lot.

Authorities believe Carpenter worked alone, and he is not being connected to any other unsolved crimes, including the armed robbery of the U.S. Bank branch in Frisco earlier this month.

FBI spokesperson Dave Joly said bank robberies for Colorado and Wyoming – the scope of the Denver FBI office’s territory – were down this year compared to 2009, but the frequency of bank robberies tends to rise around the holiday season.

“One of the reasons we all live up here is because it’s a safe community,” said Wray. “But this is a reminder that there is criminal activity that goes on here, even if it is an anomaly for there to be a bank robbery.”

SDN reporter Drew Andersen can be contacted at (970) 668-4633 or drewa@summitdaily.com.