Convicted bank robber charged in attempted Leesburg heist

Published January 16, 2012 5:00am ET



Leesburg police say 49-year-old Peggy Membreno tried to rob the Middleburg Bank located at 102 Catoctin Circle SE in Leesburg on Dec. 27.

<br/><small><a href=”http://maps.google.com/maps?q=102+Catoctin+Circle+SE,+Leesburg,+VA&amp;hl=en&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=35.957999,83.144531&amp;vpsrc=0&amp;hnear=102+Catoctin+Cir+SE,+Leesburg,+Virginia+20175&amp;t=m&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;ll=39.107286,-77.562017&amp;spn=0.01332,0.01708&amp;z=14&amp;iwloc=A&amp;source=embed” style=”color:#0000FF;text-align:left”>View Larger Map</a></small></div> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Membreno entered the bank shortly before 11 a.m. and passed a robbery note to a teller, police said. But Membreno left the branch without obtaining any cash.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>No weapon was displayed and no injuries were reported, authorities said.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Membreno has been arrested and is charged with attempted robbery.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>She was previously charged with bank robbery in August 2005 in federal court in Alexandria. That heist also happened in Loudoun County, according to Leesburg police.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>She pleaded guilty to the robbery in December 2005 and was sentenced to five years behind bars and three years of supervised released, court records say. Membreno was released from prison in December 2009, <a href=”http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&amp;needingMoreList=false&amp;FirstName=peggy&amp;Middle=&amp;LastName=Membreno&amp;Race=U&amp;Sex=U&amp;Age=&amp;x=0&amp;y=0″>according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records</a>.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Women typically make up just a small percentage of bank robbers. Only 472 female suspects were identified in bank robberies, burglaries and larcenies in 2010, <a href=”http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/bank-crime-statistics-2010/bank-crime-statistics-2010″ target=”_blank”>according to FBI statistics</a>. In contrast, authorities identified 6,197 male bank heist suspects.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Loudoun court records show that Membreno is in custody pending further proceedings. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 8.</span></p> <p><span class=”EndEmailTag” style=”font-style:italic;”><em><a href=” mailto:[email protected] “>[email protected]</a></em></span></p>