Grand Jury Indicts Bank Robbery Suspects

By Sam Thrift Thursday, July 21, 2011

A Williamsburg-James City County grand jury has returned indictments on three York County men and a juvenile who are suspected of robbing two Williamsburg banks in April.

A tentative trial date of August 26 has been set for two of the suspects: 27-year-old Noah Christopher Evans and 40-year-old Victor Jerrell Smith. Both face charges of entering a bank armed to commit larceny and use of a firearm during commission of a felony.

The third adult, 18-year-old Delamon Rahkeem Jones, will be arraigned July 29 and is facing the same charges.

Williamsburg and James City County Commonwealth’s Attorney Nate Green said while both Evans and Smith have the same court date it's unlikely they will be tried together. "Evidence in the case would make it difficult to try them together," Green said.

The fourth suspect is being charged as an adult, Green said, but his name is being withheld in case the court decides to try him as a juvenile.

The first robbery the suspects are being charged with occurred April 12 at the Chesapeake Bank at 1229 Lafayette Street. Three men entered the bank around 3:30 p.m. wearing hooded jackets, masks and gloves; at least one had a handgun. The suspects fled on foot and then got in a maroon-colored vehicle.

In the second robbery, four men entered the Citizens and Farmers Bank at 1167 Jamestown Road 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.

The four charged were arrested two weeks later in Gloucester, after deputies there observed four males "acting suspiciously" on a weekday 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 bank robberies 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.