Thanks to citizens’ help, Bainbridge Public Safety has arrested a man suspected of picking up a lost debit card and trying to use it at an ATM.

Perry Eugene Flowers, 48, of Bainbridge, was arrested Monday afternoon near the intersection of Scott and Green streets, according to Major Robert Humphrey, chief investigator at BPS.

Flowers, who is charged with one count of financial transaction card theft, was identified by citizens who called police after seeing a surveillance camera picture released by BPS last week. The Post-Searchlight printed the picture, which showed a man trying to use an ATM at the Family Bank, this past Saturday and posted it online.

“We had multiple people call in or stop by BPS headquarters to tell us they recognized the man in the photo,” Major Humphrey said. “They gave us his name and we went looking for him on Monday.”

On the morning of Monday, September 3, a woman’s Visa Debit Card was stolen after she dropped it in the Wal-Mart parking lot. No money was taken from the account because the ATM required a PIN number, Humphrey said.

Anyone who misplaces their bank card or believes it has been stolen should immediately contact their bank and have the card canceled, Humphrey said.

The next step is to get a transaction report, either from a bank teller or an online banking site, to determine whether the bank card was used without permission.

Lastly, if a person believes their card has been stolen or used without permission, they should contact Bainbridge Public Safety, if the theft happened within city limits, or the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office, if it happened elsewhere.