Gastonia, NC : Troopers ID robbery suspect who died in crash on Thursday, September 14, 2017

State troopers Thursday identified the man killed following an armed bank robbery and a police pursuit through rush hour traffic.

Stuart Harold Bryson, 54, of Charlotte, was a passenger in a black SUV being driven by 25-year-old Erin Morgan Clark, of Gastonia, when the vehicle collided with a minivan on Crowders Creek Road at the intersection of U.S. 321 before careening down an embankment. Emergency workers loaded Bryson on a stretcher to take him to the hospital, but he died a short time later.

Clark was taken to CaroMont Regional Medical Center and then transferred to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte in critical condition. According to a woman who identified herself as Clark’s grandmother and only by her first name, Patricia, Clark suffered an injury to her right hip in the wreck.

“She’s doing fine,” said Patricia, after visiting Clark in the hospital Thursday. “She’s still in pain, her hip is dislocated and they’re trying to see if they can put it together without surgery. But until then it’s just a matter of waiting.”

Authorities say Bryson and Clark were involved in a bank robbery and chase that resulted in less than $1,400 being stolen from the PNC Bank branch on South New Hope Road on Wednesday. The two were acquaintances, according to Patricia.

Michael Watkins was in the branch with his wife cashing a check when the subject, since identified as Bryson, allegedly pointed a gun toward a teller and demanded money.

“He told us to just stand back and he asked (the clerk) for money and then he got the money,” Watkins said following the incident.

According to police reports, Bryson made off with $1,380 in different denominations prior to getting into the car with Clark. As police began pursuing the vehicle at the intersection of Garrison Boulevard and U.S. 321, some of the cash reportedly flew from the vehicle.

The SUV crashed into a minivan being driven by Ava Mauney, with her two grandchildren as passengers. Mauney planned to go to the hospital as a precaution, though nobody in the van suffered serious injuries. The suspect vehicle, meanwhile, went down an embankment.

Gaston County Police are now investigating the police pursuit while Gastonia Police continue to look into the robbery. Troopers identified Bryson on Thursday as the man who died in the wreck.

Bryson had no North Carolina convictions, though he was arrested in Gaston County in November on charges of making a threatening phone call and assaulting a female.

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Troopers ID robbery suspect who died in crash