THOMASVILLE — A Wednesday morning seemingly normal transaction at a Thomasville bank resulted in a terrorized teller.

A customer known to bank personnel arrived at the drive-through — at Synovus Bank, 2704 E. Pinetree Blvd. — and presented a check to be cashed at 9:30.

“He actually cashed a check that was to him from his employment,” said Sgt. Scott Newberry, Thomasville Police Department Criminal Investigations Division assistant commander.

Traveling on a motorcycle and after receiving cash in the transaction, the suspect reached into a saddle bag on the ‘cycle and retrieved a road flare, Newberry said.

“He stuck it into the vacuum tube and sent it to the teller, and he drove off,” the officer said.

The teller thought the bright-orange object was a stick of dynamite. Newberry said the road flare resembled a destructive device.

Police responded. The building was evacuated.

The suspect, Michael Aaron Bass, 202 Clanton St., was arrested two hours later.

An alert was issued for Bass, who was spotted two hours later traveling on a motorcycle on East Jackson Street. An officer pulled him over on a traffic stop.

The 26-year-old suspect is charged with simple assault and distributing a hoax device.