Authorities looking for a Manassas bank robber got an unexpected break while investigating a different crime.
Manassas police had alerted the media and passed out fliers with several photos of man suspected of robbing a BB&T bank on 8780 Centreville Road on Wednesday.
But police got the break while a patrol officer was taking a report from a person who said he or she had been the victim of a possible fraud, said Sgt. Tim Neumann.
The suspect’s description sounded a lot like the man police were looking for in the robbery, so the officer pulled out one of the fliers and showed it to the complainant.
“It looked like the same person and they were able to say they knew that person,” Neumann said.
The information and name was relayed to the detective in the bank robbery case. Police were able to develop more information and went to the suspect’s Centreville home on Friday and charged 39-year-old Majeed Abdul Spanta with the BB&T bank robbery.
Police said Spanta walked into the BB&T branch about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, approached the teller and demanded money. He did not display a weapon. The teller handed over an undisclosed about of cash and the suspect took it and ran out the rear doors of the bank.
Police do not have evidence that this bank robbery was linked to the four others in Manassas and Prince William County since November.
