Daryl Messer knew something was wrong when he found $270 in red ink-stained bills in the change machines at the Iowa Street car wash where he works.

The Dec. 14 discovery, police say, helped them solve a string of Lawrence bank robberies and nab the former Kansas University student now accused of the crimes.

“I didn’t have a clue at first of what was going on,” Messer said Friday. “I thought it was something pretty odd.”

Messer manages the Raco Car Wash at 2828 Iowa.

He took the money to University National Bank because he knew it was the site of the most recent robbery. After exchanging the bills, he was told by the bank’s president to contact police.

Lawrence Police set up surveillance video at the car wash, but were unable to identify the suspect because of bad video imaging.

Dec. 18, Messer found another $130 in ink-stained $5 and $10 bills in the machines, and another $100 on Dec. 21.

Messer said police used the surveillance to gauge the suspect’s behavior and likely return time.

On Christmas Eve, police staked out the car wash and caught a man exchanging $130.

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The man told police he had found a duffel bag containing the ink-stained money near his house on Dec. 10, the day University National Bank, 1400 Kasold Drive, was robbed. Police recovered the bag, which contained a box of .40-caliber ammunition matching a spent cartridge casing found at University National Bank after it was robbed.

Further investigation led police to a Lawrence pawn shop, whose proprietor told them he had sold a .40-caliber Glock handgun and ammunition to Jeffrey R. Cox on June 9, the day of a robbery at Douglas County Bank, 711 W. 23rd St. The first robbery took place Feb. 2 at Central National Bank, 711 Wakarusa Drive.

Jeffrey R. Cox, 21, a former Kansas University student, was arrested Tuesday by FBI agents at a relative’s home in Atlanta and charged with three counts of armed robbery.

Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney said she expected Cox to be transported to Kansas in coming weeks. She said she thought the federal charges against Cox would take precedence over the state charges.

Steve Lazarus, an FBI spokesman in Atlanta, said Friday he didn’t know Cox’s exact whereabouts.

“If he’s coming back there on a federal charge, he’s going to be moved by the U.S. Marshal,” Lazarus said.

He said people arrested by federal agents in Atlanta usually were taken to the city’s detention center, but Cox’s presence there couldn’t be confirmed Friday.

Kenney declined comment about whether she planned to file charges against the man who found the money but didn’t turn it in.

“He made a bad choice,” Messer said of the man exchanging the stained bills for coins. “I’m just happy it’s over with.”