City Police Clear 2 Bank Robberies with Arrests

By WYDaily Staff Thursday, May 05, 2011

Four suspects are in custody today, facing bank robbery charges for two April holdups in Williamsburg that occurred within a 10-day span.

Three York County men and a juvenile were arrested Tuesday in Gloucester, after deputies there observed four males "acting suspiciously" Tuesday afternoon near the EVB Bank in Gloucester.

The Gloucester sheriff's deputies' investigation led to the discovery that the four planned to rob the bank, and that they may have had involvement in the Chesapeake and Citizens and Farmers banks in Williamsburg.

When Williamsburg police investigators arrived to talk to the suspects, they obtained statements confirming the group's participation in the city bank robberies, according to Williamsburg Police Major Greg Riley.

Police obtained more evidence linking the four to the city robberies after executing a search warrant on their vehicle, a maroon Nissan Sentra. Witnesses in the April 12 robbery of Citizens and Farmers Bank said the suspects fled in a maroon vehicle.

Charged were: Noah Christopher Evans, 27; Victor Jerrell Smith, 40; Delamon Rahkeem Jones, 18; and a juvenile male. All face the following Williamsburg charges: entering a bank armed with the intent to commit larceny, abduction and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

The adult suspects are being held at the Gloucester County Jail. The juvenile suspect is being held at the Merrimac Juvenile Detention Center.

Other jurisdictions are investigating whether the foursome is linked to recent armed robberies, Riley said.

Employees at the two city banks were "ecstatic," Riley said, upon hearing news of the arrests.

The first robbery, on April 12 at the Chesapeake Bank at 1229 Lafayette St., saw three men enter the bank around 3:30 p.m. All wore hooded jackets, masks and gloves; at least one had a handgun. The trio fled on foot, and were believed to have gotten into a maroon-colored vehicle.

In the second robbery, four men entered the Citizens and Farmers Bank at 1167 Jamestown Rd. around 10:45 a.m. April 22. All four wore hooded jackets, bandannas and gloves. A security camera captured one of the suspects who brandished a handgun in front of a teller.

Police had been investigating those two robberies as linked.