FBI searches alleged bank robber’s Jonesborough apartment

The Jonesborough man arrested last week for robbing a bank in Knoxville wasn’t the kind of person you’d expect to commit that sort of crime, according to some of his neighbors.
Jonathan Underhill Hayward, 56, is accused of walking into the Bank of America on Kingston Pike in Knoxville on March 27, demanding money and telling employees there he had an explosive device with him.
Approximately a half hour after allegedly robbing the bank, Hayward was arrested in a traffic stop as he traveled eastbound on Interstate 40.
“I’ve talked with him a few times. He’s definitely not the kind of guy you’d think would rob a bank,” said Brian Cloyd, who lives in the same Fox Street apartment building as Hayward. “He was not a thug kind of guy. He was a high class kind of guy.”
According to Cloyd, Hayward drives a newer model Mercedes, smokes cigars and sometimes wears a beret. Hayward told his neighbors he was an “international chef,” Cloyd said.
It appears Hayward did at least spend some time abroad at some point in his life. His photographs from various locations in Italy and France are on exhibit at the Jonesborough Fine Arts Council located on East Main Street, just around the corner from Hayward’s residence.
Hayward is listed as a member of the art cooperative on the organization’s website. A business card inside the co-op indicates Hayward also offers catering services.
Cloyd’s wife, Rachel, called Hayward “professional” looking and said she sometimes even perceived him as “uppity.”
“He wasn’t always the one to talk to you first,” she explained.
The Cloyds said their landlord told them Hayward always paid his rent at least two months in advance. But it appears Hayward may have recently suffered some financial troubles.
According to the Cloyds, Hayward recently told another neighbor that his finances were “really in a bind.”
“Everywhere, people are desperate for money because of the economy,” Rachel Cloyd said. “It’s sad but it’s probably not the last situation like this we’ll hear about.”
Hayward faces a federal charge of bank robbery. According to police, his threat of having an explosive device was just that. Officers did not turn up any such device in their investigation.
On March 29, authorities with the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant on Hayward’s apartment in Jonesborough.
Officers scoured the one-level living space for several hours Thursday, but came out of the building with very little.
Special Agent Kelly Kindness, out of the Knoxville Division of the FBI, said the agency could not comment further on the search of Hayward’s residence.
Kindness confirmed Hayward is currently being held as a federal detainee in Blount County.