
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 19, 1995                   TAG: 9510190052
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROBBER WON'T VARY STYLE ANYMORE - YOU CAN BANK ON IT

THE 27-YEAR-OLD decided to add some flair to his game by holding up a bank's drive-through window. After pleading guilty to four counts of robbery, he faces a maximum sentence of four life terms plus 13 years.

Maybe he was just trying to save time, but now Calvin T. Greene is serving it.

After robbing three banks the traditional way - wearing a ski mask, brandishing a handgun and stuffing the money in a pillow case - Greene decided to try a different approach.

On the afternoon of March 27, he held up the drive-through window of a Roanoke bank.

At a hearing Wednesday in Roanoke Circuit Court, he pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery and three counts of using a firearm.

It was Greene's unorthodox method that landed him in trouble. An off-duty Roanoke County firefighter happened to be watching when Greene walked up to the drive-through window of the First Union branch on Williamson Road, pulled a gun and ordered the startled teller to send him cash through the automated drawer.

Greene ran off with $2,400, but was caught several blocks away after the firefighter, Christopher DeMars, called for help on his radio and then followed the fleeing robber until police arrived.

Sgt. A.S. Smith of the Roanoke Police Department testified that after Greene was charged with the First Union robbery, he admitted robbing three other Roanoke banks in the previous two months.

Smith said Green entered the banks wearing a red ski mask and brandishing a gun. He fled with money he took from tellers at a NationsBank on Melrose Avenue Feb. 2, the First Union branch on McClanahan Street Feb. 24, and the VARO Federal Credit Union on Melrose March 9.

Greene, a 27-year-old construction worker, told Smith he needed the money to support two young children after his paycheck was garnisheed. Defense Attorney Tony Anderson said one of the children was seriously ill, and Greene was concerned about the medical bills.

Greene is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 1. Chief Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony said he faces a maximum sentence of four life terms plus 13 years in prison.

by CNB