Pair of area banks robbed at gunpoint within 2 hours

An armed man wearing a sweatshirt hoodie over his head and a bandana covering his face robbed the University of Virginia Community Credit Union near Crozet Friday morning.
It would be the first of two bank robberies in the region on Friday that come on the heels of another pair of area bank heists in the last month.
Albemarle Lt. James Bond said the credit union’s robber “appeared to be a white male, possibly in his 20s.” The robber made off with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to police.
Bond said the suspect put a gun in a customer’s side and made the person lie down. The robber took the customer’s car keys and tossed them over the counter before fleeing.

About two hours later in Orange County, a Wachovia bank branch was robbed by an armed man. The suspect in that incident was described as a light-skinned black or Hispanic man about 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds. Surveillance footage shows a man in white wearing sunglasses and a black hat.
At about noon on Feb. 17, an armed man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, dark cap, light colored pants and a blue bandana over his face robbed a BB&T in Palmyra. He fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.
Authorities were looking for information on a small silver car seen in the area at the time of the robbery.
Fluvanna Sheriff’s Col. Eric Hess said they continue to investigate that robbery.
“We do have a few things,” he said, adding that investigators there would likely talk to Albemarle authorities about the robberies.
About 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 13 in Greenville, about 45 minutes west of Charlottesville, a masked man brandishing a gun robbed a BB&T.

Police have not connected the robberies.
Around noon Friday, police milled about inside the UVa Community Credit Union and in the cordoned-off area in the parking lot. The bank is one of about 10 businesses in two small sections off U.S. 250 across from Blue Ridge Builders Supply and Home Center and the Harris Teeter under construction.
Neighboring businesses remained open as police used a bloodhound and a German shepherd to track the robber’s movements.
They apparently lost the scent behind the shops. Beyond the rear parking lot is a small community of townhouses.

At the opposite end of the strip mall, Anytime Fitness co-owner Chuck Swartz said he didn’t know anything had happened until about 10:40 a.m. when a customer told him about the robbery.
He said investigators asked him if he or anyone in the gym had seen anything. The gym has an exterior surveillance camera but it didn’t catch anything definitive.
Police released still images of video from inside the bank that show the robber wearing a dark gray hoodie, blue bandana with white markings, light-colored khaki pants and white sneakers as he hops over the counter and takes money.

They ask anyone with information to call police at 296-5807 or Crimestoppers at 977-4000.
Orange authorities ask anyone with information in that bank robbery to call the sheriff’s office at (540) 672-1200, Crimestoppers at (540) 672-7200 or the Charlottesville FBI office at 293-9663.