The lone female bank robber might be incredibly rare, but Fairfax County police say two women acting separately have struck area banks in the past month.
A lone woman robbed the Wachovia Bank at 8994 Lorton Station Blvd. on Thursday afternoon, police said. She approached a 22-year-old teller and passed a note implying she had a gun and demanding money. The teller complied, and the suspect ran out of the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Outside, the woman robber jumped into an older-model, tan- or champagne-colored Honda Accord.
No one was injured.
The suspect is black, in her mid 30s to early 40s and about 5 feet 4 inches tall. She was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, a white baseball cap and black sunglasses, and she had a black purse.
On June 5 a female suspect robbed an M&T Bank at 11721 Lee Highway in Fairfax, police said. She displayed a handgun and demanded money. She was white, in her late 20s and about 5 feet 6 inches tall. She had a slim to medium build and wore a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes. No one was injured in that robbery, either.
White women are one of the least likely groups to rob banks, according to FBI bank robbery statistics for the last quarter of 2008, the most recent available. In the last three months of last year, only 42 white women robbed banks out of a total of 2,002 identified bank robbers.
Seventy black women robbed banks and seven Hispanic women did, the statistics said. On the other hand, 824 black men robbed banks, as well as 798 white men and 112 Hispanic men. The statistics note that the race of every robber was not necessarily known.
Anyone with information regarding Friday’s bank robbery should call Fairfax County police at 703-691-2131.
For information about Washington area bank robberies, visit bankbandits.org.
