Yes..Virginia..there is a Santa Claus

Robbing Four Banks, on the Phone All the While

By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 11, 2005; A01



When it comes to multitasking, it's hard to beat the woman who can rob a bank and never interrupt her cell phone conversation.

In an act of either incredible cool or something much more sinister, a young woman has robbed four Wachovia bank branches in Northern Virginia in recent weeks, all while seemingly immersed in cell phone chats, police say. In the most recent holdup, on Nov. 4 in Ashburn, video footage shows the woman to be almost uninterested as a teller hands her a stack of cash, and she continues talking on her phone as she turns and walks out of the bank.

"This is the first time that I can recall where we've had a crime committed while the person was using a cell phone," said Loudoun County sheriff's spokesman Kraig Troxell, echoing comments by officials from other law enforcement agencies. "The question would be whether anyone is on the other end of the line or not."

The cell phone bandit first struck in Vienna on Oct. 12. A woman in her twenties with dark hair, about 5 feet 2 to 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 120 to 130 pounds, walked in carrying a box and talking on a cell phone. She moved directly to the teller counter and displayed the shoebox-size box, which had a note taped on it demanding cash. Police would not disclose the wording of the note.

As in the other cases, the robber exchanged few or no words with the teller, because she apparently was busy talking to someone else. She scooped up the cash, started walking and kept talking.

In the most recent robbery, however, there was a twist, Troxell said: a gun.

During her brief visit to the Wachovia branch at 43780 Parkhurst Plaza in Ashburn, the woman carried a purse and simply opened it up, showing the gun to the teller about 5:30 p.m., Troxell said. Then she handed over a note demanding cash, with the cell phone still firmly attached to her ear, Troxell said.

The tellers have not been able to hear much of the conversations, police said. Troxell said the chat from the robber's end on Nov. 4 was mainly a bunch of "okays."

About 3:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Wachovia branch at 7030 Old Keene Mill Rd. in Springfield, the woman did speak briefly to the teller, Fairfax County police spokeswoman Mary Mulrenan said. "She was well-spoken, in English, with a light Hispanic accent," she said.

It appeared to witnesses that there was someone on the other end of the robber's line that day, Mulrenan said. "The huge leap that we're making," she said, "is that she's talking to somebody that knows what's going on, possibly a lookout." Mulrenan said the robber was "speaking on the cell phone the whole time that she's robbing the bank."

If she's not conversing with a co-conspirator, investigators have theorized, she could just be using the phone as a prop. "Is she talking to someone," Troxell said, "or using it to make herself look less noticeable or nonchalant as she approaches the teller?" Some might argue that people who stay on a cell phone throughout a bank transaction tend to draw attention to themselves.

Fred Desroches, a sociology professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada, interviewed 80 bank robbers for a book on the subject. He categorized robbers as either aggressive or covert, and because the cell phone robber falls into the latter category, he doubted she was talking to a co-conspirator. "You don't really need a partner" to quietly rob a bank, Desroches said, "you don't get that much money, and then you have to split it."

He theorized that "maybe because she's a woman, she feels less secure physically, and by talking to somebody, it makes her feel secure." Or, Desroches added, "maybe she's talking to her mother."

In Fairfax County, she became the county's third female bank robber in 12 heists this year, Mulrenan said. That 25 percent rate is more than double the national average: Federal crime statistics show that women are responsible for about 10 percent of bank holdups.

The first of the cell phone robberies occurred the morning of Oct. 12 at the Wachovia branch at 212 E. Maple Ave. in downtown Vienna. Lt. Russ Marsh said the woman appeared to be using her phone the whole time, did not show a gun and used the note-taped-to-a-box approach to make her intentions known. He could not recall any phone-equipped robbers, and very few female robbers, in Vienna's past.

Police are investigating cell phone usage in the vicinity of the robberies at the time they were committed but have not identified a suspect. Not all the surveillance videotape has produced clear images of the woman.

The second robbery was at the Wachovia branch at 8441 Sudley Rd. in Manassas on Oct. 21. Photos show the robber coming through the bank's door, already on the phone, and holding the threatening box. Prince William police Sgt. Kim Chinn said the woman did not speak to the teller and did not show a weapon.

Police don't know why only Wachovia branches have been targeted, and they would not disclose the amount of money taken.

The third robbery was the next day, in Springfield. Then there was a pause of nearly two weeks before the Nov. 4 robbery in Ashburn, the first to involve a weapon.

"It appears, with the handgun," Marsh said, "maybe she's escalating" the seriousness of her threats.

Anyone with information about any of the robberies is asked to call Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/10/AR2005111002009_pf.html

 

Ahh....The status of having a cell phone.

 

Come on give her a break she is new at it and needs instructions from someone on the other end of that cell phone.

Read her lips, "o.k. now what do I do."

 

Oh I wasn't slamming her. I kind of feel sorry for her though. Can you imagine the price she's going to pay suffering from "cell phone withdrawl" when they catch her and put her away?

 

Uh Primmy,

The title of this thread must be a typo......it should have been..No..Virginia...Sata Claus is toast! ... as previously reported!

I report...thats it!....in Truth or Consequences, Two Hat ed

 

Santa has mistle toast for breakfast...which gave rise to the saying " Kiss my Grits "

http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/mistletoe.asp


The correct mistletoe etiquette is for the man to remove one berry when he kisses a woman. When all the berries are gone, there is no more kissing underneath that plant. It is believed that an unmarried woman not kissed under the mistletoe will remain single for another year.

 

Alas and alack Primclaus,

It seems you have confused mistle toast w/Tow Missile!! Santa can kiss his rosy cheeks .... all four of them.... goodby!

Ho ho ho...ing in Hoboken, Hiedy Ho ed

 

Everyone nose warm and toasty ..Butt warmer weather comes after the full moon.

http://www.urban75.com/Mag/java4.html

 

We have not seen Tochise for a while

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17199443-13762,00.html

Do you think he Ema-grated with Parma John and Gorganzola to set up shop on the southern end of the PinToe?

 

Nah....there's Nochise like Cochise and Pochise is getting his toes curled by Nursie Simone.

Checking de feet in Titusville, Toe..ing the Mark ed

 

Court Papers Say 'Cell Phone Bandit' Has Confessed
Tuesday November 15, 2005 2:01pm


Alexandria (AP) - It appears the suspected Cell Phone Bandit has confessed.

An FBI (website) affidavit filed in federal court Tuesday says Candice Martinez admitted being responsible for robbing Wachovia Bank branches in Manassas, Ashburn, Vienna and Springfield.

The court papers also reveal her boyfriend, Dave Williams, confessed to driving the getaway car in all four heists. Williams had once worked at the Vienna branch.

According to the affidavit, in that incident, Martinez allegedly showed the teller a box with a note demanding $75,000 dollars. She got less than $15,000 None of the cash from any of the heists has been recovered.

Martinez is accused of being the Cell Phone Bandit, seen on surveillance video chatting on her cell while robbing banks.

The couple, who are both 19, remain behind bars.


" Yes..make that thin crust with anchovies. Do you have change for a 100."

 

Well...crusty Pizzarose,

When Cochise and Gen Cruster sat down for a Powow and a couple of slices (of course that was slightly afore Custer got peppered w/double-ought pepperoni and mushrooms) they didn't realise that their cellphone batteries were dead. They didn't get the message that the buckboard w/their ordered pizza was delayed due to Buck being on board.....need I say more!!

The rest is history........

Playing Taps in Tapelo, Saucy ed

 

Well of course none of the money has been recovered. It went to pay for all those cell phone minutes!!