Sheriff's investigators are still working leads in a series of robberies committed by a man dubbed the Scarecrow.

So far, the suspected bandit, David Jackson Jr., 37, only faces a single robbery charge, Lt. Scott Peebles said Monday.

The man suspected of assisting in one of the seven robberies, Jimmy F. Pontoon, 45, is still under investigation, although he has not been charged with any crime, Lt. Peebles said.

A search warrant filed in the Superior Court Clerk's office Friday afternoon details the robberies and the reasons Mr. Jackson and Mr. Pontoon came under suspicion.

The first suspected robbery in Augusta occurred Jan. 25. A man wearing a black ski mask or skull cap pointed his right index finger at the clerk at the Dollar General on Washington County and demanded money.

Three more Augusta businesses were robbed in February by a man wearing a ski mask. In each case he pointed his right index finger at employees and demanded money.

After the Feb. 10 holdup at Georgia Bank & Trust on Walton Way, Deputy Gabriel Gardner and his K-9 partner followed the suspect's trail to within 50 yards of the St. Luke Street house where Mr. Pontoon sometimes lived, according to the search warrant affidavit Sgt. Ronald Sylvester wrote.

The same method of operation was used in an April 22 holdup of a Tobacco Road credit union and the May 11 robbery of the First Citizens Bank on Walton Way Extension. Two witnesses reported seeing an older-model, white Cadillac parked near the First Citizens Bank in a parking lot, according to the warrant.

Mr. Pontoon, investigations discovered, had recently bought a 1994 Cadillac.

Mr. Jackson was free on bond in connection with a June 6, 2007, robbery in North Augusta.

According to the search warrant, in that case a man wearing a skull cap with eyeholes pointed his finger at a Regions Bank teller and demanded money.

Mr. Jackson was arrested in Augusta in the May 22 holdup of Dollar General on Washington Road. The suspect, masked in a black skull cap with eyeholes, pointed his right index finger at the clerk and demanded money.

The clerk turned over money, but he and another man tackled and held the suspect until sheriff's officers arrived. Mr. Jackson faces the single robbery charge in that case.

Although Mr. Pontoon has not been charged, sheriff's investigators obtained the warrant to search his home and vehicle. They took shoes, clothing and various other items, including several sets of latex gloves. In the later robberies, witnesses told investigators, the suspect wore latex gloves.

Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.